
Gass_. 
Book_. 




,G, 




HEROES 



OF THE 



REVOLUTION: 



COMPRISING 



LIVES OF OFFICERS 



WHO WERE DISTINGUISHED IN THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, 



EDITED BY 

J. FROST, L. L. D. 

AUTHOR OF THE "PICTORLAi HISTORY OF THE 
UNITED STATES," &c. &c. 



THIRD EDITION. 



<g 



NEW YORK, 

SAXTON AND MILES. 
1844. 



Nd. /. 



t>' 



<?%^ 



Entered, according to the act of Congress, in 
the year 1844, by 

SAXTON AND MILES, 

in the Clerk's office of the Southern District 
of New York. 



STEREOXyPED BY S. DOUGLAS WYETH, 
No. 7 Pear St. Philadelphia. 



CONTENTS. 

LIVES OF OFFICERS. 

Page 

George Washington - - 7 

Nathaniel Greene - - - - 27 

Daniel Morgan - - - - 76 

John- Stark 90 

Hugh Mercer - - - - 106 

Ethan Allen 115 

John Cadwalader - - - - 126 

Thomas Conway - - - - 130 

Wm. Richardson Davie - - - 134 

Christopher Gadsden - - - 142 

Horatio Gates - - - - 151 

Nathan Hale - - - - 173 

Isaac Hayne - - - - - 179 

V 



VI CONTENTS. 

Page 

Charles Lee 184 

John Sullivan - - - - 201 

Joseph Warren - - - - oqs 

John Laurens - - - - 231 

Thomas Mifflin - - - - 239 



THE 

HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

George Washington was born on the 22d 
of February, 1732, on the banks of the river 
Potomac, in Virginia. His father dying when 
he was ten years old, he received a plain but 
useful education at the hands of his mother. 
He soon manifested a serious and contemplative 
disposition, and in his thirteenth year drew up 
a code of regulations for his own guidance, in 
which the germs are visible of those high prin- 
ciples which regulated his conduct in mature 
life. As a boy, he conceived a liking for the 
naval service, but, being dissuaded from this, 
he qualified himself for the occupation of a 
land-surve3^or 5 and, at the age of eighteen, 
obtained, through his relation, Lord Fairfax, 
the office of Surveyor of the Western District 
of Virginia. This introduced him to the notice 
of Grovernor Dinwiddle, and in the following 



8 



HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 



year he was appointed one of the Adjutant- 
Generals of Virginia, with the duty of training 
the militij^ 

The boundaries of the British and French pos- 
sessions in America were at that time subjects 
of dispute. In 1753 Washington was sent on 
a mission to the French settlement on the Ohio, 
which he executed successfully; and on his 
return published a journal of his route, w^hich 
attracted much notice. In the following year 
he was less fortunate, being taken prisoner wdth 
his party, while in command of an expedition 
against the French. Being allowed to return 
home, he withdrew from the service, and went 
to reside at Mount Vernon, an estate which des- 
cended to him on the death of an elder brother. 
In 1755 he accepted the rank of Aide-de-camp 
to General Braddock, and was present at the 
surprise of the British in the woods near the 
Monongahela, where his coolness, courage, and 
knowledge of Indian warfare, chiefly contrib- 
uted to the preservation of a handful of the 
troops. He escaped unhurt, but had three horses 
killed under him, and his dress was four times 
pierced with rifle-balls. Having gained much 
credit by his conduct on this occasion, Washing- 
ton was next employed to defend the western 



WASHINGTON. 9 

frontier against the incursions of the French 
and Indians. He concluded this harassing ser- 
vice at the end of four years, by reducing Fort 
du Quesne, and driving the French beyond the 
Ohio ; and then resigned his commission. 

After his return to Mount Vernon, in 1759, 
Washington married ; and during the next four- 
teen years his time was divided between his 
duties as a member of the Colonial Assembly 
and agricultural pursuits, in which he took great 
interest. The disputes \vhich preceded the Re- 
volution again drew him from private life. He 
maintained that the Americans were entitled to 
all the rights of British subjects, and could not be 
taxed by a legislature in which they were not 
represented ; and he recommended that, on the 
failure of peaceful and constitutional resistance, 
recourse should be had to arms. In 1774 the 
command of the troops raised by Virginia was 
given to him ; and in 1775 he represented that 
State in the Convention held at Philadelphia. 
When the war began, Washington was chosen 
Commander-in-Chief of the American Army ; 
an office which he accepted without remunera- 
tion, saj-ing, that emolument would not have 
tempted him to forego the pleasures of private 
life, and that he should only require to have his 



10 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

expenses reimbursed. His private letters have 
since proved that his object, at that time, was 
not to procure separation from England; but 
his alacrity in entering into the contest, and his 
constancy throughout its continuance, refute 
the insinuation, only countenanced by certain 
forged letters, that he was not hearty in the 
cause of independence. 

About fourteen thousand people were at this 
time collected around Boston, where General 
Gage was held in a state of siege. Washington 
reached the colonial camp in July, 1775, and 
proceeded to give to the assembled multitude 
the form and discipline of a regular force. His 
next endeavours were to extend the period for 
which men enlisting Avere obliged to serve, and 
to ensure the maintenance of the trbops by 
appointing a Commissary-General to collect 
supplies, instead of depending for them on the 
voluntary and uncertain contributions of the 
several States. Neither of these wishes was 
complied with, and the want of every requisite 
obliged Washington to change the siege into a 
blockade, until the following March, when, 
having obtained artillery and engineers, he 
forced the English to give up the town and 
embark on board their fleet. His conduct during 



WASHINGTON. 1 1 

this siege is admirable, both for the resohition 
with which he maintained the blockade with 
an inferior army composed of untried men, and 
the patience with which he endured the re- 
proaches of the people, to whom the real diffi- 
culties of his situation, with respect to arms 
and ammunition, could not be disclosed. He 
also established the principle, that captured 
Americans should be treated as prisoners of war. 
In April, 1776, Washington anticipated 
the British in occupying New York, and the 
adjacent islands. Before the arrival of 
Lord Howe, in July, independence was pro- 
claimed; and the American general refused to 
negotiate unless acknowledged as the function- 
ary of an independent government, saying, that 
America, being her own mistress, and having 
committed no fault, needed no pardon. A 
severe defeat on Long Island, and subsequent 
losses, compelled him to abandon the State of 
New York to the English, to retreat with great 
loss through New Jersey, and to take shelter 
behind the Delaware, near Philadelphia. He 
showed much skill in preventing the British 
from taking advantage of these reverses, which 
he sought to repair by surprising their posts at 
Trenton and Princetown, in Jersey, where he 



12 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

made many hundred prisoners. These successes 
were well timed, and revived the broken spirit 
of the country. 

In 1777 Washington applied to Congress for 
more extensive powers, which were granted 
him, with the title of Dictator, by which he 
was empowered to act on his own responsibility 
m all military affairs. But he was not supplied 
with the means of acting eifectually 5 and the 
campaign of that year was one of misfortunes, 
the Americans being defeated at Brandywine, 
and forced to yield Philadelphia to the English. 
During the winter months Washington occupied 
a fortified camp at Valley Forge, and his army, 
ill-supplied with ammunition and provisions, 
was daily in danger of being destroyed by 
hunger or the enemy. He freely expressed his 
opinion to Congress of their misconduct, and 
his remarks occasioned a faction which desired 
to displace him from his command, and to 
substitute General Gates: but this was never 
seriously attempted. 

The campaign of 1778 was favourable to 
Washington; he recovered Philadelphia, and 
following Clinton in his retreat through New- 
Jersey, brought him to action at Monmouth. 
The issue of this engagement gave new confi- 



WASHINGTON. 13 

dence to the people, and completely restored 
him to the good will of Congress. During the 
years 1779 and 1780 the war was actively 
carried on in the South, and Carolina and 
Virginia were reduced by the British. In the 
autumn of 1780 Major Andre, who had been 
sent by Clinton to concert with Arnold measures 
for betraying the post at West Point, was seized 
within the American lines, and tried and hanged 
as a spy. Whatever were the merits or mis- 
fortunes of the British officer, the duty of 
Washington was too plain to be mistaken, and 
the obloquy he incurred in its performance 
was undeserved. 

Washington had throughout contended that 
the country could only be delivered by raising 
a permanent army, and consolidating the union 
of the States, so as to form a vigorous govern- 
ment. Five years' experience had taught 
Congress the inefficiency of temporary armies, 
and they resolved to form a permanent one with 
a system of half-pay and pensions, as an in- 
ducement to enter the service. But as the 
government of each State was empowered to 
levy its own taxes, and co<hiuct all the mea- 
sures for carrying this resolve into effect, such 
delay was occasioned, that although Count 



14 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Rochambeau arrived from France in August, 
1780, with an auxiliary force of five thousand 
men, the American army could not actively 
co-operate with him during that year. 

The temporising policy pursued by the States 
had severely tried the constancy of Washing- 
ton, but did not lead him to despair of final 
success. The army, suffering extreme want, 
was kept in the field chiefly by attachment to 
his person. Attentive to alleviate their hard- 
ships, he did not permit any disorderly license j 
and although early in 1781 he allowed Congress 
to pacify the revolted troops, he, on a second 
occasion, shortly after, forcibly compelled the 
mutineers to submit, and summarily tried and 
executed many of them. 

The pecuniary aid of France, and increased 
activity of the American Government, enabled 
Washington to resume offensive measures in 
the summer of 1781. Earl Cornwallis, then 
in Virginia, and but feebly opposed by La- 
Fayette, sent a part of his army to strengthen 
Clinton in New York. Shortly after De Grasse 
arrived off the coast of Virginia with a French 
fleet. Washington took advantage of this con- 
juncture to transfer the war to the South. 
Deceiving Clinton as to his real design, he 



WASHINGTON. 15 

marched rapidly through New Jersey and 
Maryland, and, embarking his army on the 
Chesapeake, effected a junction at Williamsburg 
with La Fayette. By the combined operation 
of their forces, assisted by the fleet under De 
Grasse, Lord Cornwallis was compelled to 
surrender at York Town, with his whole force, 
October 19, after a siege of thirteen days. 
This event decided the war ) but Washington 
remained watchful to preserve the advantages 
gained, and to provide for future contingencies, 
until 1783, when a general peace was 
concluded. 

Washington then prepared to resume his 
station as a private citizen. The army had 
become disaffected towards the States, and ap- 
peared not unwilling to subvert the freedom of 
their country, if the general had sought his 
own aggrandisement. But he nobly rejected 
all such schemes, and persuaded the soldiers to 
return home, and trust to the assurance of Con- 
gress for the discharsre of the arrears due to 
them. Having publicly taken leave of his 
officers, he repaired to Annapolis, and December 
23, 1783, appeared in Congress, and resigned 
his commission. He also presented the account 
of his receipts and expenditure during the late 



16 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

war, the items of which were entered in his 
own handwriting. His expenditure amounted 
to <£l 9,306, and it subsequently appeared that 
he had applied considerable sums of his own 
to the public service, which he neglected to 
claim. He asked no favour or reward for 
himself, except that his letters should be free 
from postage, but he strongly recommended to 
Congress the claims of his late army. 

Having delivered a farewell address to Con- 
gress, and forwarded one of a like character to 
the government of each State, pointing out the 
advantages they at present possessed, and giving 
his advice as to the future conduct of their 
affairs, he retired to Mount Vernon to enjoy the 
pleasures of private life. But although the 
next two years were passed in retirement, the 
mind of Washington was actively directed to 
public affairs. Beside maintaining a correspon- 
dence with the most eminent men, as well in 
Europe as in his own country, he was engaged 
in various projects to promote the agricultural 
and commercial interests of his native State. 
Under his direction, companies were formed to 
improve the navigation of the rivers James and 
Potomac, thus making Virginia the trading mart 
of the Western States. A number of shares 



WASHINGTON. 17 

in the James River Company, which were pre- 
sented to him in 1785 by the legislature of 
Virginia, he employed in founding the college 
in Virginia, now called by his name. His 
deference to the popular feelings and prejudices 
on the subject of liberty was shown in his 
conduct with regard to the Cincinnati, a military 
society of which he was president, instituted 
to commemorate the occurrences of the late 
war. An outcry was raised that the honours 
conferred by this society being hereditary, a 
titled order would be created in the State. 
Washington therefore prevailed on the members 
to annul the offensive regulations, and to agree 
that the society should cease at the termination 
of their lives. 

The want of union amongst the States, and 
the incapacity of the government, engaged the 
attention of every able man in America, and 
more especially interested Washington, who 
desired to witness the estabhshment of a great 
republic. The principal defect of the existing 
government was, that no acts of Congress in 
forming commercial treaties, borrowing money, 
or introducing national regulations, were 
binding on the individual States, each of which 
pursued its own interests, without showing any 
2* 



18 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

disposition to redeem the engagements of the 
government with the public creditors, either at 
home or abroad. Washington's principles were 
democratic ; but he was opposed to those who 
contended for the absolute independence of the 
individual States, being convinced that each 
must sacrifice a portion of its liberty for the 
security of the whole, and that, without an 
energetic central government, the confederation 
would be insignificant. His representations to 
the Congress and the individual States, backed 
by the increasing distress of the country, at 
length brought about the Convention of Phila- 
delphia, which met in May, 1787, and having 
chosen Washington president, continued sitting 
until September, when the federal constitution 
was finally decided on, and was submitted to 
the States for their approval. 

Having acquitted himself of this duty, Wash- 
ington retired to private life until March, 1789, 
when he was elected President of the United 
States. He had used no exertion to obtain this 
distinction, which his impaired health and love 
of retirement rendered unsuitable to him : he, 
however, accepted it, and his journey to New 
York was one continued triumph. April 30, 
he took the oaths prescribed by the constitution, 



WASHINGTON. 19 

and delivered his inaugural address, in which 
he dwelt most fully on his own reasons for 
again entering on public life, and on the duties 
incumbent upon members of the Congress. 
He declared that he would receive no remune- 
ration for his services, and required that a 
stated sum should be allowed for defraying the 
expenses of his office. 

The President of the Union being a new 
political personage, it became requisite to 
establish certain observances of etiquette 
towards him. Washington's arrangements in 
this respect were sufficiently simple, yet they 
excited jealousy, as savouring of regal and 
courtly customs. The restriction placed on 
the admission of idle visitors, who hourly in- 
truded on him, caused much offence, and be- 
came the subject of remonstrance, even from 
intelligent men. 

One of the first acts of Washington's ad- 
ministration was to empower the legislature to 
become responsible for the general debt .of the 
States, and to levy taxes for the punctual * 
discharge of the interest upon it. The opera- 
tion of the new government was in every 
respect satisfactory, its beneficial influence 
being apparent in the increasing prosperity of 



20 HEROES OF THE KEVOLUTION. 

the country ; and before the end of the second 
year's presidency, Rhode Island and North 
Carolina, which at first were dissentient, desired 
to participate in the benefits of the Union, and 
were admitted as members. In 1790 Wash- 
ington concluded a treaty with the hostile 
Indians on the Southern frontier : but the war 
which he directed against the Indians on the 
North Western frontier was unfortunate, the 
American forces sustaining three severe defeats. 
Upon the whole, however, the period of his 
first presidency passed over prosperously and 
tranquilly. He was annoyed by occasional 
differences in his cabinet, and by the discontent 
of the anti-federal party ; but being supported 
by John Adams, Hamilton, and other able men, 
his government suffered no real embarrassment. 
In 1792, as he possessed the general confi- 
dence of the people, he was unanimously re- 
elected President : and in March, 1793, again 
took the oaths of office. The French Revolu- 
tion was hailed with joy by the Americans, 
among whom an almost universal wish pre- 
vailed to assist in establishing, as they thought, 
true freedom in Europe. But Washington per- 
ceived that the real interests of his country 
required peace. He acknowledged the govern- 



WASHINGTON. 21 

ment of the French Republic, and sent an am- 
bassador to Paris ; but declared his resolution 
to adopt a strict neutrality in the contest be- 
tween France and the allied powers of Europe. 
Still the enthusiasm in favour of the French 
continued to increase ; and, at the instigation 
of M. Genet, envoy from Paris, privateers 
were armed in the American ports, and sent 
to cruise against the British. Washington 
promptly suppressed this practice j and the 
conduct of Genet having been intemperate and 
insolent towards the President, and calculated 
to produce serious disturbance in the States, he 
took the requisite steps for having him recalled. 

The determination of the President to pre- 
serve peace was not the only ground of pop- 
ular discontent. The imposition of excise 
taxes,^ as they were termed by the people, 
excited serious murmurings; and, in 1794, a 
general rising took place in Pennsylvania, 
which was put down without bloodshed by a 
vigorous display of force, and the principals, 
after being condemned to death, were pardoned. 

The ferment among the people made a war 
with England seemingly unavoidable. Wash- 
ington, at this juncture, appointed IVIr. Jay 
envoy to England, with full powers to conclude 



22 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

a treaty, in which all points then at issue be- 
tween the two nations should be adjusted. 
With the concurrence of the Senate he ratified 
this treaty, regardless of the outcry raised 
"against it; and subsequently upheld the au- 
thority of the President, in refusing to permit 
the House of Representatives to revise the 
articles it contained. The people soon per- 
ceived that the advantages to be derived from 
the contentions in Europe made it impolitic for 
their own country to become a party to them, 
and confidence and good will towards the 
President were in a great measure restored. 
These favourable dispositions were confirmed 
by the termination of a successful war against 
the Indians, and by a treaty with Spain, by 
which the navigation of the Mississippi to the 
Ocean was secured to the Americans. 

Among the acts which immediately proceed- 
ed from Washington during his presidency, 
were those for forming a fund to pay off the 
national debt, and for organising the militia of 
the country. He was active and sssiduous in 
his duties as chief magistrate, making tours 
through the States, and ascertaining the pro- 
gressive improvement in each, and the means 
which would most tend to increase it. The 



WASHINGTON. 23 

limited powers conferred on the President pre- 
vented his effecting so much as he desired, and 
the public measures originating from him were 
but few. He declined being nominated a third 
time to the office of President, and on his re- 
tirement published an address to the people of 
the United States, in which, after remarking 
on the condition and prospects of the country, 
he insisted on the necessity of cementing the 
union of the States, and upholding the su- 
premacy of the Federal Government ; he also 
advised them never to admit the influence of 
foreign powers, and to reap benefit from the 
quarrels amongst the States of Europe, by re- 
maining at peace with all. 

Washington passed the rest of his days at 
Mount Vernon, engaged in the society of his 
friends, and in the improvement of his estate. 
He was for several years a member of the 
British Agricultural Association ; and the efforts 
he made to form a similar society in America, 
and his letters to Sir John Sinclair, (a fac-simile 
copy of which is deposited in the British 
Museum,) show the interest he took in agri- 
cultural affairs. He died December 13, 1799, 
in his sixty-eighth year, after a few days' ill- 
ness, and was buried at Mount Vernon. He 



24f HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

left no family. Congress suspended its sitting 
on receiving the intelligence of his death, and 
a public mourning was ordered for him. 

In person, Washington was robust, and above 
the middle height. He was thoughtful and 
reserved, without being repulsive; and his 
manners were those of the old school of 
English gentlemen. Although mild and hu- 
mane, he was stern in the performance of duty, 
and never, upon such occasions, yielded to 
softness or compassion. His speeches and 
official letters are simple and earnest, but 
wanting perhaps in that conciseness, which 
marks vigour of thought. Whilst President, 
he was assailed by the violence of party spirit. 
On his decease his worth was justly appreciated, 
and the sorrow at his loss was universal and 
sincere. Washington was distinguished less 
by the brilliancy of his talents than by his 
moral goodness, sound judgment, and plain but 
excellent understanding. His admirable use of 
those sterling, though homely qualities has 
gained a rank for him among the greatest and 
best of men ; and his name will be coexistent, 
as it was coeval, with that of the empire, of 
which, no less by his rare civil wisdom than 



WASHINGTON. 25 

his eminent military talents, he may be 
considered the founder. 

The virtues which distinguish him from all 
others who have united the fame of statesman 
and captain, were two-fold, and they are as 
great as they are rare. He refused power 
which his own merit had placed within his 
reach, constantly persisting in the preference 
of a republican to a monarchial form of govern- 
ment, asjthe most congenial to liberty when it 
is not incompatible with the habits of the 
people and the circumstances of society ; and 
he even declined to continue longer than his 
years seemed to permit at the head of that 
commonwealth which he had founded. This 
subjugation of all ambitious feelings to the 
paramount sense of duty is his first excellence ; 
it is the sacrifice of his own ag-sfrandisement to 
his country's freedom. The next is like unto 
it ; his constant love of peace when placed at 
the head of aifairs : this was the sacrifice of 
the worthless glory which ordinary men prize 
the most, to the tranquillity and happiness of 
mankind. Wherefore to all ages and in all 
climes, they, who most love public virtue will 
hold in eternal remembrance the name of 



26 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

George Washington ; never pronouncing it but 
with gratitude and awe, as designating a mortal 
removed above the ordinary lot of human 
frailty. 

The words of his last will in bequeathing 
his sword to his nephews — the sword which 
he had worn in the sacred war of liberty — 
ought to be graven in letters of gold over every 
palace in the world : " This sword they shall 
never draw but in defence of freedom, or of 
their country, or of their kindred 5 and when 
thus drawn, they shall prefer falling with it in 
their hands to the relinquishment thereof." 

For farther information we refer to the 
works of Ramsay and Marshall} and to the 
Correspondence of Washington, published by 
Mr. Sparkes. 



NATHANIEL GREENE, 

Major-Genekal in the American Army. 

General Greene, although descended from 
ancestors of elevated standing, was not indebted 
to the condition of his family for any part of 
the real lustre and reputation he possessed. 
He was literally the founder of his own fortune, 
and the author of Kis own fame. He was the 
second son of Nathaniel Greene, a member of 
the society of Friends, an anchor-smith. 

He was born in the year 1741, in the town 
of Warwick, and county of Kent, in the 
province of Rhode Island. Being intended by 
his father for the business which he himself 
pursued, young Greene received at school 
nothing but the elements of a common English 
education. But to him, an education so limited 
was unsatisfactory. With such funds as he 
was able to raise, he purchased a small, but 
well-selected library, and spent his evenings, 
and all the time he could redeem from his 
father's business, in regular study. 

At a period of life unusually early, Greene 
was elevated, by a very flattering suffrage, to a 

27 



28 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

seat in the legislature of his native colony. 
This was the commencement of a public 
career, which, heightening as it advanced, and 
flourishing in the midst of difficulties, closed 
with a lustre that was peculiarly dazzling. 

Thus introduced into the councils of his 
country, at a time when the rights of the 
subject, and the powers of the ruler, were 
beginning to be topics of liberal discussion, he 
felt it his duty to avow his sentiments on the 
momentous question. Nor did he pause or 
waver, as to the principles he should adopt, 
and the decision he should form. He was in- 
flexibly opposed to tyranny and oppression in 
every shape, and manfully avowed it. But his 
character, although forming, was not com- 
pletely developed until the commencement of 
the troubles which terminated in our independ- 
ence. It was then that he aspired to a head in 
the public councils ; and throwing from him, 
as unsuitable to the times, the peaceful habits 
in which he had been educated, sternly declared 
for a redress of grievances, or open resistance. 
This open departure from the sectarian prin- 
ciples in which he had been educated, was 
followed, of course, by his immediate dismission 
from the society of Friends. 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 29 

The sword was earliest unsheathed in the 
colony of Massachusetts ; and on the plains of 
Lexington and Concord, the blood of British 
soldiers and American subjects mingled first in 
hostile strife. Nor was Rhode Island, after 
that sanguinary affair, behind her sister colonies, 
in gallantry of spirit and promptitude of 
preparation. 

Greene commenced his military pupilage in 
the capacity of a private soldier, in October, 

1774, in a military association, commanded by 
James M. Varnum, afterward brigadier-general. 
But Rhode Island having, in the month of May, 

1775, raised three regiments of militia, she 
placed them under the command of Greene, 
who, without loss of time, conducted them to 
head-quarters, in the village of Cambridge. 

On the 2d of July, 1775, General Wash- 
ington, invested by Congress with the command 
in chief of the armies of his country, arrived 
at Boston. Greene availed himself of an early 
opportunity, amid the public demonstration of 
joy, to welcome the commander-in-chief, in a 
personal address, in which, with much warmth 
of feeling and kindness of expression, he 
avowed his attachment to his person, and the 
high gratification he derived from the prospect 
3* 



30 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

of being associated with him in arms, and 
serving under him in defence of the violated 
rights of his country. 

This was a happy prelude to a friendship 
between these two great and illustrious officers, 
which death alone had the power to dissolve. 
It is a fact of notoriety, that when time and 
acquaintance had made him thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the character and merits of 
General Greene, Washington entertained, and 
frequently expressed, an anxious wish, that in 
case of his death he might be appointed his' 
successor to the supreme command. 

During the investment of Boston by the 
American forces, a state of things which lasted 
for months, no opportunity presented itself to 
Greene to acquire distinction by personal 
exploit. But his love of action, and spirit of 
adventure, were strongly manifested; for he 
was one of the few officers of rank who con- 
curred with General Washington in the pro- 
priety of attempting to carry the town by 
assault. 

On the evacuation of Boston by the British, 
the American troops were permitted to repose 
from their toils, and to exchange, for a time, 
the hardships and privations of a field encamp- 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 31 

ment for the enjoyment of plenty in comfort- 
able barracks. During this period of relaxation, 
Greene continued with unabating industry his 
military studies, and as far as opportunity 
served, his attention to the practical duties of 
the field. This course, steadily pursued, under 
the immediate supervision of Washington, 
could scarcely fail to procure rank, and lead to 
eminence. Accordingly, August 26, 1776, he 
was promoted by Congress to the rank of major- 
general in the regular army. 

A crisis, most glowing and portentous to the 
cause of freedom, had now arrived. In the 
retreat which now commenced through New- 
Jersey, General Washington was accompanied 
by General Greene, and received from him all 
the aid that, under circumstances so dark and 
unpromising, talents, devotion, and firmness 
could afford. Possessed alike of an ardent 
temperament, hearts that neither danger nor 
misfortune could appal, and an inspiring trust 
in the righteousness of their cause, it belonged 
to the character of these two great and illus- 
trious commanders, never for a moment to 
despair of their country. Hope and confidence, 
even now, beamed from their countenances, 
and they encouraged their followers, and sup- 



32 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

ported them under the pressure of defeat and 
misfortune. 

Greene was one of the council of Wash- 
ington who resolved on the enterprise of De- 
cember 26, 1776, against the post of the enemy 
at Trenton. The issue is known, and is 
glorious in our history. About one thousand 
Hessians, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 
with their arms, field-equipage, and artillery, 
were the trophies of that glorious morning, 
which opened on the friends of American 
freedom with the day-star of hope. He was 
again of the council of the commander-in-chief, 
^ in planning the daring attack, January 2, 1777, 
on the British garrison at Princeton, as well as 
his associate in achieving its execution. In 
both these brilliant actions, his gallantry, 
prudence, and skill being alike conspicuous, he 
received the applauses of his commander. He 
continued the associate and most confidential 
counsellor of Washington through the gloomy 
and ominous period that followed. 

In the obstinate and bloody battle of Brandy- 
wine, General Greene, by his distinguished 
conduct, added greatly to his former renown. 
In the coiu-se of it, a detachment of American 
troops, commanded by General Sullivan, being 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 33 

unexpectedly attacked by the enemy, retreated 
in disorder, General Greene, at the head of 
Weedon's Virginia brigade, flew to their sup- 
port. On approaching, he found the defeat of 
General Sullivan a perfect rout. Not a moment 
was to be lost. Throwing himself into the 
rear of hi^ flying countrymen, and retreating 
slowly, he kept up, especially from his cann n, 
so destructive a fire, as greatly to retard he 
advance of the enemy. Aiming at lengtl at a 
narrow defile, secured on the right and J ft by 
thick woods, he halted, sent forward his c'Snnon, 
that they might be out of danger, in case of his 
being compelled to a hasty retreat, and formed 
his troops, determined to dispute the pass with 
his small arms. This he effected with complete 
success, notwithstanding the vast superiority 
of the assailants ; until, after a conflict of more 
than an hour and a half, night came on, and 
brought it to a close. But for this quick-sighted 
interposition, Sullivan's detachment must have 
been nearly annihilated. 

On this occasion only did the slightest mis- 
understanding ever occur between General 
Greene and the commander-in-chief. In his 
general orders after the battle, the latter ne- 
glected to bestow any special applause on 



34 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Weedon's brigade. Against this General Greene 
remonstrated in person. 

General Washington replied, " You, sir, are 
considered my favourite officer. Weedon's 
brigade, like myself, are Virginians. Should 1 
applaud them for their achievement under your 
command, I shall be charged with partiality : 
jealousy will be excited, and the service 
injured." 

" Sir," exclaimed Greene, with considerable 
emotion, " I trust your excellency will do me 
the justice to believe that I am not selfish. In 
my own behalf I have nothing to ask. Act 
towards me as you please ; I shall not complain. 
However richly I prize your excellency's good 
opinion and applause, a consciousness that I 
have endeavoured to do my duty constitutes, at 
present, my richest reward. But do not, sir, 
let me entreat you, on account of the jealousy 
that may arise in little minds, withhold justice 
from the brave fellows I had the honour to 
command." 

Convinced that prudence forbade the special 
notice requested, the commander-in-chief per- 
sisted in his silence. Greene, on cool reflection, 
appreciated the motive of his general, and lost 
no time in apologizing for his intemperate 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 35 

manner, if not for his expressions. Delighted 
with his frankness and magnanimity, Wash- 
ington replied with a smile, "An officer, tried 
as you have been, who errs but once in two 
years, deserves to be forgiven." With that he 
offered him his hand, and the matter terminated. 

Following General Greene in his military 
career, he next presents himself on the plains 
of Germantown. In this daring assault he 
commanded the left wing of the American 
army, and his utmost endeavours were used to 
retrieve the fortune of the day, in which his 
conduct met the approbation of the commander- 
in-chief. Lord Cornwallis, to whom he was 
often opposed, had the magnanimity to bestow 
upon him a lofty encomium. " Greene," said 
he, "is as dangerous as Washington. He is 
vigilant, enterprising, and full of resources. 
With but little hope of gaining any advantage 
over him, I never feel secure when encamped 
in his neighbourhood." 

At this period the quartermaster department 
m the American army was in a very defective 
and alarming condition, and required a speedy 
and radical reform : and General Washington 
declared, that such reform could be effected 
only by the appointment of a quartermaster- 



36 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

general, of great resources, well versed in 
business, and possessing practical talents of the 
first order. When requested by Congress to 
look out for such an officer, he at once fixed 
his eye on General Greene. 

Washington well knew that the soul of 
Greene was indissolubly wedded to the duties 
of his line. Notwithstanding this, he expressed, 
in conversation with a member of Congress, 
his entire persuasion, that if General Greene 
could be convinced of his ability to render his 
country greater services in the quartermaster 
department than in the field, he would at once 
accept the appointment. " There is not," said 
he, "an officer of the army, nor a man in 
America, more sincerely attached to the inter- 
ests of his country. Could he best promote 
their interests in the character of a corporal^ 
he would exchange, as I firmly believe, without 
a murmur, the epaulet for the knot. For 
although he is not without ambition, that ambi- 
tion has not for its object the highest rank so 
much as the greatest good." 

When the appointment was first offered to 
General Greene, he declined it; but after a 
conference with the commander-in-chief, he 
consented to an acceptance, on condition that 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 37 

he should forfeit nothing of his right to com- 
mand in time of action. On these terms he 
received the appointment, March 22, 1778, and 
entered immediately on the duties of the office. 

In this station he fully answered the ex- 
pectations formed of his abilities ; and enabled 
the American army to move with additional 
celerity and vigour. 

During his administration of the quarter- 
master department, he took, on two occasions, 
a high and distinguished part in the field ; the 
first in the battle of Monmouth ; the second, 
in a very brilliant expedition against the enemy 
in Rhode Island, under the command of General 
Sullivan. At the battle of Monmouth, the 
commander-in-chief, disgusted with the be- 
haviour of General Lee, deposed him in the 
field of battle, and appointed General Greene 
to command the right wing, where he greatly 
contributed to retrieve the errors of his pre- 
decessor, and to the subsequent events of the 
day. 

His return to his native state was hailed by 
the inhabitants with general and lively demon- 
strations of joy. Even the leading members 
of the society of Friends, who had reluctantly 

excluded him from their communion, often 
4, 



38 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

visited him at his quarters, and expressed their 
sincere satisfaction at the elevation he had at- 
tained in the confidence of his country. One 
of these plain gentlemen being asked in jest, 
by a young officer, how he, as an advocate of 
peace, could reconcile it to his conscience to 
keep so much company with General Greene, 
whose profession was war 1 promptly replied, 
" Friend, it is not a suit of uniform that can 
either make or spoil a man. True, I do not 
approve of this many-coloured apparel, (to the 
officer's dress,) but whatever may be the form 
or colour of his coat, Nathaniel Greene still 
retains the same sound head and virtuous heart 
that gained him the love and esteem of our 
Society." 

During the year 1779, General Greene was 
occupied exclusively in the extensive concerns 
of the quartermaster department. 

About this time General Greene was called 
to the performance of a duty the most trying 
and .painful he had ever encountered. We 
allude to the melancholy affair of Major Andre, 
adjutant-general to the British army, who was 
captured in disguise within the American lines. 
Washington detailed a court for this trial, 
composed of fourteen general officers, La 



NATHANIEL GREENE, 39 

Fayette and Steuben being two of the number, 
and appointed General Greene to preside. 

When summoned to his trial, Andre frankly 
disclosed, without interrogatory, what bore 
heaviest on his own life, but inviolably con- 
cealed whatever might endanger the safety of 
others. His confessions were conclusive, and 
no witness was examined against him. The 
court were unanimous that he had been taken 
as a spy, and must suffer death. Of this sen- 
tence he did not complain, but wished that he 
might be permitted to close a life of honour by 
a professional death, and not be compelled, like 
a common felon, to expire on a gibbet. To 
effect this, he made, in a letter to General 
Washington, one of the most powerful and 
pathetic appeals that ever fell from the pen of 
a mortal. 

Staggered in his resolution, the commander- 
in-chief referred the subject, accompanied by 
the letter, to his general officers, who, with 
one exception, became unanimous in their de- 
sire that Andre should be shot. 

That exception was found in General Greene, 
the president of the court. "Andre," said he, 
" is either a spy or an innocent man. If the 
latter, to execute him in any way will be 



40 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

murder : if the former, the mode of his death 
is prescribed by law, and you have no right to 
alter it. Nor is this all. At the present 
alarming crisis of our affairs, the public safety 
calls for a solemn and impressive example. 
Nothing can satisfy it short of the execution 
of the prisoner as a common spy ; a character 
of which his own confession has clearly con- 
victed him. Beware how you suffer your 
feelings to triumph over your judgment. In- 
dulgence to one may be death to thousands. 
Besides, if you shoot the prisoner, instead of 
hanging him, you will excite suspicion which 
you will be unable to allay. Notwithstanding 
all your efforts to the contrary, you will awaken 
public compassion, and the belief will become 
general, that, in the case of Major Andre, there 
were exculpatory circumstances, entitling him 
to lenity, beyond what he received^ — perhaps 
entitling him to pardon. Hang him, therefore, 
or set him free." 

This reasoning being considered conclusive, 
the prisoner suffered as a common spy. 

We have now advanced to that period of the 
revolutionary war in which the situation of 
Greene is about to experience an entire change. 
No longer acting in the vicinity, or subject to 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 41 

the immediate orders of a superior, we are lo 
behold him, in future, removed to a distance, 
and virtually invested with the supreme com- 
mand of a large section of the United States. 

Congress, dissatisfied with the loss of the 
southern army, resolved that the conduct of 
General Gates be submitted to the examination 
of a court of inquiry, and the commander-in- 
chief directed to appoint an officer to succeed 
him. In compliance with the latter part of 
the resolution. General Washington, without 
hesitation, offered the appointment to General 
Greene. In a letter to Congress, recommend- 
ing the general to the support of that body, he 
made the most honourable mention of him as 
" an officer in whose abilities, fortitude, and in- 
tegrity, from a long and intimate experience 
of them, he had the most entire confidence." 
Writing to Mr. Matthews, a member from 
Charleston, he says, " You have your wish, in 
the officer appointed to the sout^iern commands 
I think I am giving you a general ; but what 
can a general do without arms, without clothing, 
without stores, without provisions ?' 

General Greene arrived at Charlotte, the 
head-quarters of General Gates, December 2, 
1780, and in entering on the duties of his 
4* 



4t2 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

command, he found himself in a situation that 
was fearfully embarrassing. His army, con- 
sisting mostly of militia, amounted to less than 
two thousand men, and he found on hand but 
three days' provision, and a very defective 
supply of ammunition. In front was an enemy, 
proud in victory, and too strong to be encoun- 
tered. With such means, and under such 
circumstances, to recover two states, already 
conquered, and protect a third, constituted a 
task that was almost hopeless. 

It was not merely to meet an enemy in the 
field, to command skilfully and fight bravely, 
either in proffered or accepted battle. These 
operations depend on mere professional qualifi- 
cations, that can be readily acquired by mo- 
derate capacities. But to raise and provide for 
an army in a dispirited and devastated country, 
creating resources where they do not exist ; to 
operate with an incompetent force on an ex- 
tended and brc^en line of frontier -, to hold in 
check in many points, and to avoid coming into 
contact in any, with an enemy superior in 
numbers and discipline ; to conduct a scheme 
of warfare like this — and such, precisely, was 
that which tested the abilities of General 
Greene — ^requires a genius of the highest order. 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 43 

combined with indefatigable industry and 
skill. 

Preparatory to the commencement of the 
campaign, Greene's first care was to prepare 
for his troops subsistence and ammunition, and 
in effecting this, he derived great aid from his 
personal experience in th^ business of the 
commissary and quartermaster's departments. 
This qualification for such a diversity of duties, 
presented him to his troops in the two-fold re- 
lation of their supporter and commander. 
Much of the moral strength of an army con- 
sists in a confidence in its leader, an attachment 
to his person, and a spirit of subordination, 
founded on principle. To such an extent was 
this true, that even the common soldiery, 
sensible of the superintendence of a superior 
intellect, predicted confidently a change of 
fortune. Their defeat at Camden was soon 
forgotten by them in their anticipations of 
future victory. They fancied themselves ready 
once more to take the field, and felt a solicitude 
to regain their lost reputation, and signalize 
their prowess in presence of their new and 
beloved commander. 

But, notwithstanding the spirit and confi- 
dence of his troops, Greene found himself 



44 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

unable, to meet the enemy in the field. With 
Washington in his eye, and his own genius to 
devise his measures, he resolved on cautious 
movements and protracted war. Yet to sustain 
the spirit of the country, it was necessary that 
he should not altogether shun his enemy ; but 
watching and coifronting his scouts and fo- 
raging parties, fight, cripple, and beat him in 
detail; and in all his movements it was 
necessary for him to maintain a communication 
with Virginia, from which he was to receive 
supplies of provisions, munitions, and men. 

General Greene's first movement from the 
village of Charlotte, was productive of the 
happiest effect. In the month of December 
he marched with his main army to the Cheraw 
Hills, about seventy miles to the right of Lord 
Cornwallis, despatching, at the same time, 
General Morgan, with four hundred continen- 
tals under Colonel Howard, Colonel Wash- 
ington's corps of dragoons, and a few militia, 
amounting in all to six hundred, to take a 
position on the British left, distant from them 
about fifty miles. 

This judicious disposition, which formed a 
rallying point for the friends of independence, 
both in the east and west, and facilitated the 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 45 

procurement of provisions for the troops, ex- 
cited his lordship's apprehensions for the safety 
of Ninety-Six and iVugusta, British posts, which 
he considered as menaced by the movements 
of Morgan, and gave rise to a train of move- 
ments which terminated in the celebrated 
battle of the Cowpens. 

Cornwallis, immediately on learning the 
movements of Greene, despatched Colonel 
Tarlton with a strong detachment, amounting, 
in horse and foot, to near a thousand, for the 
protection of Ninety-Six, with orders to bring 
General Morgan, if possible, to battle. Greatly 
superior in numbers, he advanced on Morgan 
with a menacing asppct, and compelled him, at 
first, to fall back rapidly. But this was not 
long continued. Glorying in action, and re- 
lying with great confidence in the spirit and 
firmness of his regular troops, Morgan halted 
at the Cowpens, and prepared to give his 
adversary battle. The opportunity was eagerly 
seized by Tarlton, An engagement was the 
immediate consequence, and a complete victory 
was obtained by the Americans. Upwards 
of five hundred of the British laid down their 
arms and were made prisoners, and a very con- 

* Vide Biography of General Morgan. 



4-6 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

siderable number were killed. Eight hundred 
stand of arms, two field-pieces, and thirty-five 
baggage wagons, fell to the victors, who had 
only twelve killed and sixty wounded. 

The victory of the Cowpens, although 
achieved under the immediate command of 
Morgan, was the first stroke of General Greene's 
policy in the south, and augured favourably of 
his future career. It led to one of the most 
arduous, ably conducted, and memorable ope- 
rations, that occurred in the course of the 
revolutionary war — the retreat of Greene, and 
the pursuit of Cornwallis, during the inclement 
cies of winter, a distance of two hundred and 
thirty miles. 

Galled in his pride, and crippled in his 
schemes by the overthrow of Tarlton, Lord 
Cornwallis resolved, by a series of prompt and 
vigorous measures, to avenge the injury and 
retrieve the loss which the royal arms had 
sustained at the Cowpens. His meditated 
operations for this purpose were, to advance 
rapidly on Morgan, retake his prisoners, and 
destroy his force ; to maintain an intermediate 
position, and prevent his union with General 
Greene or in case of the junction of the two 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 47 

armies, to cut off their retreat towards Virginia, 
and force them to action. 

But General Greene, no less vigilant and 
provident than himself, informed, by express, 
of the defeat of Tarlton, instantly perceived 
the object of his lordship, and ordering his 
troops to proceed under General Huger to 
Salisbury, where he meditated a junction with 
Morgan's detachment, he himself, escorted by 
a few dragoons, set out for the head-quarters 
of that officer, and joined him shortly after. 

Cornwallis having committed to the flames 
his heavy baggage, and reduced his army to the 
condition of light troops, dashed towards Mor- 
gan. And here commenced the retreat of 
General Greene, in the course of which he 
displayed such resources, and gained in the end 
such lasting renown. Sensible of the immense 
prize for which he was contending, he tasked 
his genius to the "uttermost. On the issue of 
the struggle was staked, not merely the lives of 
a few brave men, not alone the existence of 
the whole army, but the fate of the south and 
the integrity of the Union. But his genius 
was equal to the crisis. By the most masterly 
movements, Greene effected a junction of the 
two divisions of his little army. 



48 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

To his great mortification, Lord Cornwallis 
now perceived that in two of his objects, the 
destruction of Morgan's detachment, and the 
prevention of its union with the main division, 
he was completely frustrated by the activity 
of Greene. But to cut off the retreat of the 
Americans into Virginia, after their union, and 
to compel them to action, was still perhaps 
practicable, and to the achievement of this he 
now directed his undivided energies. 

The genius of Greene, however, did not de- 
sert him on this trying occasion. Self-collected, 
and adapting his conduct to the nature of the 
crisis, his firmness grew with the increase of 
danger ; and the measure of his greatness was 
the extent of the difficulties he was called to 
encounter. Notwithstandino; the vigilance and 
activity of his enemy, he brought his men in 
safety into Virginia ; and to crown the whole, 
no loss was sustained by him, either in men, 
munitions, artillery, or any thing that enters 
into the equipment of an army. 

Frustrated thus in all his purposes, Lord 
Cornwallis, although the pursuing party, must 
be acknowledged to have been fairly van- 
quished. Victory is the successful issue of a 
struggle for superiority. Military leaders con- 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 49 

tend for different objects; to vanquish their 
enemies in open conflict ; to attack and over- 
throw them by stratagem and surprise ; to ex- 
haust their resources by delay of action ; or to 
elude them in retreat, until, strengthened by 
reinforcements, they may be able to turn and 
meet them in the field. Of this last description 
was the victory of Greene in this memorable 
retreat. 

In Virginia, General Greene received some 
reinforcements, and had the promise of more ; 
on which he returned again into North Carolina, 
where, on their arrival, he hoped to be able to 
act on the offensive. He encamped in the vi- 
cinity of Lord Cornwallis's army. By a variety 
of the best concerted manceuvres, lie so judi- 
ciously supported the arrangement of his troops, 
by the secrecy and promptitude of his motions, 
that during three weeks, while the enemy re- 
mained near him, he prevented them from 
taking any advantage of their superiority ; and 
even cut off all opportunity of their receiving 
succours from the royalists. 

About the beginning of March he effected a 
junction with a continental regiment and two 
considerable bodies of Virginia and Carolina 
militia. He then determined on attacking the 



50 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

British commander without loss of time, " being 
persuaded," as he declared in his subsequent 
despatches, " that if he was successful, it would 
prove ruinous to the enemy ; and, if otherwise, 
that it would be but a partial evil to him." 
On the 14th he arrived at Guilford Court-House, 
the British then lying at twelve miles distance. 

His army consisted of about four thousand 
five hundred men, of whom near two-thirds 
were North Carolina and Virginia militia. The 
British were about two thousand four hundred, 
all regular troops, and the greater part inured 
to toil and service in their long expedition 
under Lord Cornwallis, who, on the morning 
of the 15th, being apprised of General Greene's 
intention^, marched to meet him. The latter 
disposed his army in three lines : the militia of 
North Carolina were in front ; the second line 
was composed of those of Virginia ; and the 
third, which was the flower of the army, was 
formed of continental troops, near fifteen 
hundred in number. They were flanked on 
both sides by cavalry and riflemen, and posted 
on a rising ground, a mile and a half from 
Guilford Court-House. 

*'The eno;ao:ement commenced at half an 
,hour after one o'clock, by a brisk cannonade ; 



NATHANIEL GKEENE. 51- 

after which the British advanced in three 
columns, and attacked the first line, composed 
of North Carolina militia. Those who pro- 
bably had never been in action before, were 
panic-struck at the approach of the enemy; 
and many of them ran away without firing a 
gun, or being fired upon, and even before the 
British had come nearer than one hundred and 
forty yards to them. Part of them, however, 
fired ; but they then followed the example of 
their comrades. Their officers made every 
possible effort to rally them ; but neither the 
advantages of position, nor any other considera- 
tion, could induce them to maintain their 
ground. This shameful conduct had a great 
effect upon the issue of the battle. The next 
line, however, behaved much better. They 
fought with great bravery, and were thrown 
into disorder ; rallied, returned to the charge, 
and kept up a heavy fire for a long time ; but 
were at length broken and driven on the third 
line, when the engagement became genera], 
very severe, and very bloody. At length, 
superiority of discipline carried the day from 
superiority of numbers. The conflict endured 
an hour and a half, and was terminated by 
General Greene's ordering a retreat, when he 



52 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

perceived that the enemy were on the point of 
encircling his troops." 

This was a hard-fought action, and the ex- 
ertions of the two rival generals, both in pre- 
paring for this action, and during the course 
of it, were never surjiassed. Forgetful of 
every thing but the fortune of the day, they, 
on several occasions, mingled in the danger 
like common soldiers. 

The loss sustained by the Americans in this 
battle, amounted, in killed and wounded, to 
only about four hundred ; while, in its effect 
on the enemy, it was murderous ; nearly one 
third of them, including many officers of dis- 
tinction, were killed and wounded. 

The result of this conflict, although techni- 
cally a defeat, was virtually a victory on the 
part of General Greene. In its relation to his 
adversary, it placed him on higher ground than 
he had previously occupied; enabling him, 
immediately afterward, instead of retreating, 
to become the pursuing party. This is evi- 
denced by his conduct soon after the action. 

Not doubting that Lord Cornwallis would 
follow him, he retreated slowly, and in good 
order, from the field of battle, until attaining, 
at the distance of a few miles, an advantageous 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 53 

position, he again drew up his forces, deter- 
mined to renew the contest on the arrival of 
his enemy. But his lordship was in no con- 
dition to pursue. Having, by past experience, 
not to be forgotten, learnt that his adversary was 
a Ulysses in wisdom, he now perceived that 
he was an Ajax in strength. Alike expert in 
every mode of warfare, and not to be van- 
quished either by stratagem or force, he found 
him too formidable to be again approached. 

Influenced by these sentiments. Lord Corn- 
wallis, instead of pursuing his foe, or even 
maintaining his ground, commenced his retreat, 
leaving behind him about seventy of his 
wounded, M^hom he recommended, in a letter 
written by himself, to the humanity and 
attention of the American chief. 

Had General Greene been in a situation to 
pursue his lordship as soon as he commenced 
his retreat, the destruction of that officer and 
his army would have been inevitable. Some 
spot on the plains of Carolina would have 
witnessed the surrender that was reserved for 
Virginia; and the hero of the south would 
have won the laurels which shortly afterwards 
decorated the brow of the hero of the nation. 
But Greene's military stores were so far ex- 
5* 



54 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

pemied that he could not pursue, until he 
received a supply ; and the delay, thus occa- 
sioned, gave time to the British commander to 
effect his escape. 

Having received his supplies, Greene im- 
mediately pursued the enemy ; but the advanced 
position of Lord Cornwallis, and the impracti- 
cable condition of the roads, frustrated every 
exertion that General Greene could make to 
compel the enemy to a second engasrement: 
convinced of this, he halted to indulge his 
troops in that refreshment and repose which 
they so much needed. 

Were we to indicate the period in the life 
of General Greene most strongly marked by 
the operations, and irradiated by the genius of 
a great commander, we would, without hesita- 
tion, select that which extends from the com^ 
mencement of his retreat before Cornwallis, to 
the termination of his pursuit of him at this 
time. Perhaps a brighter era does not adorn 
the military career oi^ any leader. It was in 
the course of it that he tiurned the current of 
adverse fortune consequent on the defeat of 
Gates, which he afterwards directed with such 
certain aim and irresistible force, as to keep the 
enemy from his numerous strong holds in the 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 55 

southern department, and contributed so pre- 
eminently to the speedy and felicitous issue of 
the war. 

Having abandoned the pursuit of the British 
army, the general again found himself encircled 
with difficulties. Of the southern department 
of the Union, over which Greene's command 
extended, the enemy was in force in three 
large and important sections. Georgia and 
South Carolina were entirely in their posses- 
sion ] Lord Cornwallis had taken post in the 
maritime district of North Carolina, and part 
of Virginia was occupied by a powerful de- 
tachment of British troops, under the command 
of General Phillips, At a loss to determine 
in which of these points he should act in per- 
son, he consulted his officers, and found them 
greatly divided in opinion. He however re- 
solved, in accordance to the views of Colonel 
Lee, that leaving his lordship, whose object 
evidently was the invasion of Virginia, to be 
met by the energies of that state, with such 
assistance as might arrive from the north, he 
should penetrate South Carolina, his army 
divided into two columns, attack and beat the 
enemy at their different posts, without per- 
mitting them to concentrate their forces, and 



5rt HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

thus recover that rich and important member 
of the Union. 

An officer who had distinguished himself in 
the late action, not satisfied with the proposed 
plan of operations, asked General Greene, by 
way of remonstrance, " What will you do, sir, 
in case Lord Cornwallis throws himself in your 
rear, and cuts off your communication with 
Virginia?" "I will punish his temerity,"Te- 
plied the general with great pleasantness, "by 
ordering you to charge him as you did at the 
battle of Guilford. But never fear, sir ; his 
lordship has too much good sense ever again to 
risk his safety so far from the sea-board. He 
has just escaped ruin, and he knows it, and I 
am greatly mistaken in his character as an 
officer, if he has not the capacity to profit by 
experience." 

On the 7th of April, General Greene broke 
up his encampment, and with the main column 
of his army moving to the south, took position 
on Hobkirk's Hill, in front of Camden, the 
head-quarters of Lord Rawdon, now the com- 
mander-in-chief of the British forces in the 
south. 

The strength of the British position, which 
was covered on the south and east side by a 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 57 

river and creek, and to the westward and 
northward by six redoubts, rendered it im- 
practicable to carry it by storm with the small 
army Greene had, consisting of about seven 
hundred continentals, the militia having gone 
home. He therefore encamped at about a mile 
from the town, in order to prevent supplies 
from being brought in, and to take advantage 
of such favourable circumstances as might 
occur. 

Lord Rawdon's situation was extreniely 
delicate. Colonel Watson, whom he had 
some time before detached for the protection 
of the eastern frontiers, and to whom he had, 
on the intelligence of General Greene's in- 
tentions, sent orders to return to Camden, was 
so effectually watched by General Marion, that 
it was impossible for him to obey. His lord- 
ship's supplies were, moreover, very preca- 
rious ; and should General Greene's reinforce- 
ments arrive, he might be so closely invested 
as to be at length obliged to surrender. In this 
dilemma, the best expedient that suggested 
itself, was a bold attack ; for which purpose he 
armed every person with him capable of 
crrrying a musket, not excepting his musicians 
and drummers. He sallied out on the 25th of 



58 



HEROES OF THE EEVOLUTION. 



April, and attacked General Greene in his 
camp. The defence was obstinate; and for 
some part of the engagement the advantage 
appeared to be in favour of America. Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Washington, who commanded 
the cavalry, had at one time not less than two 
hundred British prisoners. However, by the 
misconduct of one of the American regiments, 
victory was snatched from General Greene, 
who was compelled to retreat. He lost in the 
action about two hundred killed, wounded and 
prisoners. Rawdon lost about two hundred 
and fifty-eight. 

There was a great similarity between the 
consequences of the affair at Guilford, and 
those of this action. In the former. Lord 
Cornwallis was successful ; but was afterward 
obliged to retreat two hundred miles from the 
scene of action, and for a time abandoned the 
grand object of penetrating to the northward. 
In the latter. Lord Rawdon had the honour of 
the field, but was shortly after reduced to the 
necessity of abandoning his post, and leaving 
behind him a number of sick and wounded. 

The evacuation of Camden, with the vigi- 
lance of General Greene, and the several 
officers he employed, gave a new complexion 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 59 

to affairs in South Carolina, ^vhere the British 
ascendency declined more rapidly than it had 
been established. The numerous forts garri- 
soned by the enemy, fell, one after the other, 
into the hands of the Americans. Orange- 
burg, Motte, Watson, Georgetown, Granby, 
and others, Fort Ninety-Six excepted, were 
surrendered ; and a very considerable number 
of prisoners of war, with military stores and 
artillery, were found in them. 

On the 22d of May, General Greene sat down 
before Ninety-Six with the main part of his 
little army. The siege was carried on, for a 
considerable time, with great spirit; and the 
place was defended with equal bravery. At 
length the works were so far reduced that a 
surrender must have been made in a few days, 
when a reinforcement of three regiments from 
Europe arrived at Charleston, which enabled 
Lord Rawdon to proceed to relieve this im- 
portant post. The superiority of the enemy's 
force reduced General Greene to the alternative 
of abandoning the siege altogether, or, previous 
to their arrival, of attempting the fort by storm. 
The latter was more agreeable to his enterpri- 
sing spirit; and an attack was made on the 
morning of the 19th of June. He was re- 



60 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

pulsed with the loss of one hundred and fifty 
men. He raised the siege, and retreated over 
the Saluda. 

Dr. Ramsay, speaking of the state of affairs 
about this period, says, " truly distressing was 
the situation of the American army; when in 
the grasp of victory, to be obHged to expose 
themselves to a hazardous assault, and after- 
ward to abandon a siege. When they were 
nearly masters of the whole country, to be 
compelled to retreat to its extremity ; and after 
subduing the greatest part of the force sent 
against them, to be under the necessity of 
encountering still greater reinforcements, when 
their remote situation precluded them from the 
hope of receiving a single recruit. In this 
gloomy situation there were not wanting per- 
sons who advised General Greene to leave the 
state, and retire with his remaining forces to 
Virginia. To arguments and suggestions of 
this kind he nobly replied, ' I will recover the 
country, or die in the attempt.' This distin- 
guished officer, whose genius was most vigorous 
in those extremities when feeble minds abandon 
themselves to despair, adopted the only resource 
now left him, of avoiding an engagement until 
the British force should be divided." 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 61 

Greene having, without loss, made good his 
passage over the rivers in front, Lord Rawdon, 
perceiving the futility of any further attempt 
to overtake him, abandoned the pursuit, and 
retreating to Ninety-Six, prepared for its 
evacuation. Thus did the policy of Greene, 
which is moral strength, compel the surrender 
of that fortress, although, from a want of 
physical strength, he failed to carry it by the 
sword. 

No sooner had Lord Rawdon commenced his 
retrograde movement towards Ninety-Six, than 
General Greene changed his front and moved 
in the same direction. On the breaking up of 
the garrison of Ninety-Six, and the return of 
Lord Rawdon towards Charleston, which im- 
mediately ensued, the British army moved in 
two columns, at a considerable distance from 
each other. It was then that General Greene 
became, in reality, the pursuing party, ex- 
ceedingly anxious to bring the enemy to battle. 
But this he was unable to accomplish until 
September. 

September the 9th, General Greene having 
assembled about two thousand men, proceeded 
to attack the British, who, under the command 
of Colonel Stewart were posted at the Eutaw 



62 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Springs. The American force was drawn up 
in two lines; the first, composed of Carolina 
militia, was commanded by Generals Marion 
and Pickens, and Colonel de Malmedy. The 
second, which consisted of continental troops 
from North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, 
was commanded by General Sumpter, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Campbell, and Colonel Wil- 
liams : Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, with his legion, 
covered the right flank 5 and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Henderson, wdth the state troops, covered the 
left. A corps de reserve was formed of the 
cavalry under Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, 
and the Delaware troops under Captain Kirk- 
wood. As the Americans came forward to the 
attack, they fell in with some advanced parties 
of the enemy, at about two or three miles 
ahead of the main body. These being closely 
pursued, were driven back, and the action soon 
became general. The militia were at length 
forced to give way, but were bravely supported 
by the second line. In the hottest part of the 
engagement, General Greene ordered the Mary- 
land and Virginia continentals to charge with 
trailed arms. This decided the fate of the day. 
** Nothing," says Dr. Ramsay, " could surpass 
the intrepidity of both officers and men on this 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 63 

occasion. They rushed on in good order, 
through a heavy cannonade and a shower of 
musketry, with such unshaken resokition that 
they bore down all before them." The British 
were broken, closely pursued, and upwards of 
five hundred of them were taken prisoners. 
They, however, made a fresh stand in a favour- 
able position, in impenetrable shrubs and a 
picketed garden. Lieutenant-Colonel Wash- 
ington, after having made every effort to dis- 
lodge them, was wounded and taken prisoner. 
Four six-pounders were brought forward to 
play upon them, but they fell into their hands ; 
and the endeavours to drive them from their 
station being found impracticable, the Ameri- 
cans retired, leaving a very strong picket on 
the field of battle. Their loss was about five 
hundred ; that of the British upwards of eleven 
hundred. 

General Greene was honoured by Congress 
with a British standard and a gold medal, em- 
blematical of the engagement, ^' for his wise, 
decisive, and magnanimous conduct in the 
action at Eutaw Springs, in which, with a force 
inferior in number to that of the enemy, he 
obtained a most signal victory." 

In the evening of the succeeding day, 



64 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Colonel Stewart abandoned his post, and re- 
treated towards Charleston, leaving behind 
upwards of seventy of his wounded, and a 
thousand stand of arms. He was pursued a 
considerable distance, but in vain. 

In Dr. Caldwell's Memoirs of the Life of 
General Greene, we have the following inter- 
esting story as connected with the severe con- 
flict at Eutaw Springs. 

" Two young officers, bearing the same rank, 
met in personal combat. The American per- 
ceiving that the Briton had a decided superiority 
in the use of the sabre, and being himself of 
great activity and personal strength, almost 
gigantic, closed with his adversary, and made 
him his prisoner. 

" Gentlemanly, generous, and high-minded, 
this event, added to a personal resemblance 
which they were observed to bear to each other, 
produced between these two youthful warriors 
an intimacy, which increased, in a short time, 
to a mutual attachment. 

" Not long after the action, the American 
officer returning home on furlough, to settle 
some private business, obtained permission for 
his friend to accompany him. 

"Travelling without attendants or guard, 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 65 

they were both armed and well mounted. Part 
of their route lay through a settlement highly 
disaffected to the American cause. 

" When in the midst of this, having, in 
consequence of a shower of rain, thrown 
around them their cloaks, which concealed 
their uniforms, they were suddenly encountered 
by a detachment of tories. 

"The young American determined to die 
rather than become a prisoner, especially to 
men v/hom he held in abhorrence for disloyalty 
to their country, and the generous Briton re- 
solved not to survive one by whom he had been 
distinguished and treated so kindly : they both 
together, with great spirit and self-possession, 
charged the royalists, having first made signals 
in their rear, as if directing others to follow 
them ; and thus, without injury on either side, 
had the address and good fortune to put the 
party to flight. 

" Arriving in safety at their place of desti- 
nation, what was their surprise and augmented 
satisfaction on finding, from some questions 
proposed by the American officer's father, that 
they were first cousins ! 

" With increasing delight, the young Briton 
passed several weeks in the family of his kins- 
6* 



66 HEROES OP THE REVOLUTION. 

man, where the writer of this narrative saw 
him daily, and often listened, with the rapture 
of a child, to the checkered story of his 
military adventures. 

" To heighten the occurrence, and render it 
more romantic, the American officer had a 
sister, beautiful and accomplished, whose heart 
soon felt for the gallant stranger more than the 
affection due to a cousin. The attachment was 
mutual. 

" But here the adventure assumed a tragical 
cast. The youthful foreigner being exchanged, 
was summoned to return to his regiment. The 
message was fatal to his peace, but military 
honour demanded the sacrifice, and the lady, 
generous and high-minded as himself, would 
not be instrumental in dimming his laurels. 
The parting scene was a high-wrought picture 
of tenderness and sorrow. On taking leave 
the parties mutually bound themselves, by a 
solemn promise, to remain single a certain 
number of years, in the hope that an arrange- 
ment contemplated might again bring them 
together. A few weeks afterward, the lady 
expired under an attack of the small-pox. 
The fate of the officer we never learnt." 

Judge Johnson in his Life of General Greene, 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 67 

says, "At the battle of Eutaw Springs, Greene 
says, ' that hundreds of my men were naked 
as they were born.' Posterity will scarcely 
believe that the bare loins of many brave men 
who carried death into the enemy's ranks at 
the Eutaw, were galled by their cartouch- 
boxes, while a folded rag or a tuft of moss 
protected their shoulders from sustaining the 
same injury from the musket. Men of other 
times will inquire, by what magic was the army 
kept together? By what supernatural pov/er 
was it made to fight ?" 

General Greene, in his letters to the secretary 
at war, says, " We have three hundred men 
without arms, and more than one thousand so 
naked that they can be put on duty only in 
cases of a desperate nature." Again he says, 
''Our difficulties are so numerous, and our 
wants so pressing, that I have not a moment's 
relief from the most painful anxieties. I have 
more embarrassments than it is proper to dis- 
close to the world. Let it suffice to say that 
this part of the United States has had a narrow 
escape. / have been seven months in the field 
without taking off my clothes.''^ 

The battle of Eutaw Springs being termina- 
ted, General Greene ordered the light troops 



68 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

under Lee and Marion to march circnitously, 
and gain a position in the British rear. But 
the British leader was so prompt in his measures, 
and so precipitate in his movements, that, 
leaving his sick and wounded behind him, he 
made good his retreat. The only injury he 
received in his flight was from Lee and Marion, 
who cut off part of his rear-guard, galled him 
in his flanks, killed several, and made a number 
of prisoners. 

Such was the issue of the battle of Eutaw. 
Like that of every other fought by General 
Greene, it manifested in him judgment and 
sagacity of the highest order. Although he 
was repeatedly forced from the field, it may be 
truly said of that officer, that he never lost an 
action — the consequences, at least, being always 
in his favour. In no instance did he fail to 
reduce his enemy to a condition relatively 
much worse than that in which he met him, 
his own condition, of course, being relatively 
improved. 

The battle of the Eutaw Springs was the last 
essay in arms, in which it was the fortune of 
General Greene to command, and was succeeded 
by the abandonment of the whole of South 
Carolina by the enemy, except Charleston. 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 69 

During the relaxation that followed, a danger- 
ous plot was formed by some mutinous persons 
of the army, to deliver up their brave general 
to the British. The plot was discovered and 
defeated; the ringleader apprehended, tried, 
and shot, and twelve of the most guilty of his 
associates deserted to the enemy. To the 
honour of the American character, no native 
of the country was known to be concerned in 
this conspiracy. Foreigners alone were its 
projectors and abetters. 

The surrender of Lord Cornwallis, whose 
enterprising spirit had been, by the British 
ministry, expected to repair the losses, and 
wipe away the disgrace which had been in- 
curred through the inactivity and indolence of 
other generals, having convinced them of the 
impracticability of subjugating America, they 
discontinued offensive operations in every 
quarter. The happy period at length arrived, 
when, by the virtue and bravery of her sons, 
aided by the bounty of heaven, America 
compelled her invaders to acknowledge her 
independence. Then her armies quitted the 
tented field, and retired to cultivate the arts of 
peace and happiness. General Greene im- 



70 



HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 



mediately withdrew from the south, and re- 
turned to the bosom of his native state. 

The reception he there experienced was 
cordial and joyous. The authorities welcomed 
him home with congratulatory addresses, and 
the chief men of the place waited upon him 
at his dwelling, eager to testify their gratitude 
for his services, their admiration of his talents 
and virtues, and the pride with which the}^ 
recognized him as a native of Rhode Island. 

On the close of the war, the three southern 
states that had been the most essentially bene- 
fitted by his wisdom and valour, manifested at 
once their sense of justice, and their gratitude 
to General Greene, by liberal donations. South 
Carolina presented him with an estate valued 
at ten thousand pounds sterling ; Georgia with 
an estate, a few miles from the city of 
Savannah, worth five thousand pounds; and 
North Carolina, with twenty-five thousand 
acres of land in the state of Tennessee. 

Having spent about two years in his native 
state, in the adjustment of his private aifairs, 
he sailed for Georgia in October, 1785, and 
settled with his family on his estate near 
Savannah. Engaging here in agricultural pur- 
suits, he employed himself closely in arrange- 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 71 

ments for planting, exhibiting the fairest pro- 
mise to become as eminent in the practice of 
the peaceful virtues as he had already shown 
himself in the occupation of war. 

But it was the will of heaven that in this 
new sphere of action his course should be 
limited. The short period of seven months 
was destined to witness its commencement and 
its close. 

Walking over his grounds, as was his custom, 
without his hat, on the afternoon of the 15th 
of June, 1786, the day being intensely hot, he 
was suddenly attacked with such a vertigo and 
prostration of strength, as to be unable to re- 
tm-n to his house without assistance. The 
aifection was what was denominated a " stroke 
of the sun." It was succeeded by fever, 
accompanied with stupor, delirium, and a dis- 
ordered stomach. All efforts to subdue it 
proving fruitless, it terminated fatally on the 
19th of the month. 

Intelligence of the event being conveyed to 
Savannah, but one feeling pervaded the place. 
Sorrow was universal j and the whole town 
instinctively assumed the aspect of mourning. 
All business was suspended, the dwelling houses, 



72 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

stores, and shops, were closed, and the shipping 
in the harbour half-masted their colours. 

On the following day, the body of the de- 
ceased being conveyed to the town, at the re- 
quest of the inhabitants, was interred in a 
private cemetry with military honours; the 
magistrates of the place, and other public 
officers, the society of the Cincinnati, and the 
citizens generally, joined in the procession.* 

In estimating the military character of Gen- 
eral Greene, facts authorized the inference that 
he possessed a genius adapted by nature to 
military command. After resorting to arms, 
his attainment to rank was much more rapid 
than that of any other officer our country has 
produced ; perhaps the most rapid that history 
records. These offices, so high in responsibility 
and honour, were conferred on him, not as 
matters of personal favour or family influence, 
nor yet through the instrumentality of political 
intrigue. They were rewards of pre-eminent 
merit, and tokens of recognised fitness for the 
highest functions of military service. 

It is said, that on his very first appearance 
in the camp at Cambridge, from the ardour of 
* General Greene left behind him a wife and five children. 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 73 

his zeal, unremitted activity, and strict attention 
to every duty, he was pronounced by soldiers 
of distinction,* a man of real military genius. 

'' His knowledge," said General Knox to a 
distinguished citizen of South Carolina, "is 
intuitive. He came to us the rawest and most 
untutored being I ever met with : but in less 
than twelve months he was equal in military 
knowledge to any general officer in the army, 
and very superior to most of them." Even the 
enemy he conquered did homage to his pres 
eminent talents for war. Tarlton, who had 
strong ground to know him, is reported to 
have pronounced him, on a public occasion, 
the most able and accomplished commander 
that America had produced. 

When acting under the order of others, he 
never failed to discharge, to their satisfaction, 
the duties intrusted to him, however arduous. 
But it is the southern department of the Union 
that constitutes the theatre of his achievements 
and fame. It was there, where his views were 
unshackled and his genius free, that, by per- 
forming the part of a great captain, he erected 
for himself a monument of reputation, durable 
* Colonel Pickering and others. 



741 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

as history, lofty as victory and conquest could 
render it, and brightened by all that glory could 
bestow. 

In compliment to his brilliant successes, the 
chivalric De la Luzerne, the minister of France, 
who, as a knight of Malta, must be considered 
as a competent judge of military merit, thus 
speaks of him : " Other generals subdue their 
enemies by the means with which their country 
or their sovereign furnished them, but Greene 
appears to subdue his enemy by his own means. 
He commenced his campaign without either an 
army, provisions, or military stores. He has 
asked for nothing since, and yet scarcely a post 
arrives from the south that does not bring 
intelligence of some new advantage gained 
over his foe. He conquers by magic. History 
furnishes no parallel to this." 

On the 12th of August, of the year in 
which the general died, the Congress of the 
United States unanimously resolved, " That a 
monument be erected to the memory of the 
Honourable Nathaniel Greene, at the seat of 
the federal government, with the following 
inscription : 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 75 

SACRED 

to the Memory of the 
HON. NATHANIEL GREENE, 

who departed this Life 

the 19th of June, MDCCLXXXVI, 

late Major-General in the 

Service of the U. S. and 

Commander of the Army in the 

Southern Department. 

The United States, in Congress 

assembled, in honour of 

HIS PATRIOTISM, VALOUR, AND ABILITY, 

have erected this 

MONUMENT. 

To the disgrace of the nation, no monument 
has been erected ; nor, for the want of a head- 
stone, can any one at present designate the spot 
where the relics of the Hero of the South lie 
interred. 



DANIEL MORGAN, 

Brigadier-General in the American Armt. 

General Morgan was the creator of his own 
fortune. Born of poor, though honest parents, 
he enjoyed none of the advantages which result 
from wealth and early education. But his 
was a spirit that would not tamely yield to 
difficulties. 

" He was born in New Jersey, where, from 
his poverty and low condition, he had been a 
day-labourer. To early education and breeding, 
therefore, he owed nothing. But for this de- 
ficiency his native sagacity and sound judgment, 
and his intercourse with the best society, made 
much amends in after life. 

" Enterprising in his disposition, even now 
he removed to Virginia, in 1755, with a hope 
and expectation of improving his fortune. 
Here he continued, at first, his original business 
of day-labour ; but exchanged it afterward for 
the employment of a wagoner. 

"His military novitiate he served in the 
campaign under the unfortunate Braddock. 
The rank he bore is not precisely known. It 
76 



DANIEL MORGAN. 77 

mustj however, have been humble ; for, in 
consequence of imputed contumely towards a 
British officer, he was brought to the halbert, 
and received the inhuman punishment of five 
hundred lashes ; or, according to his own state- 
ment, of four hundred and ninety-nine ; for he 
always asserted that the drummer charged with 
the execution of the sentence, miscounted and 
jocularly added, * That George the Third was 
still indebted to him one lash.' To the honour 
of Morgan he never practically remembered 
this savage treatment during the revolutionary 
war. Towards the British officers whom the 
fortune of battle placed within his power, his 
conduct was humane, mild, and gentlemanly. 

"After his return from this campaign, so 
inordinately was he addicted to quarrels and 
boxing matches, that the village of Berrystown, 
in the county of Frederick, which constituted 
the chief theatre of his pugilistic exploits, re- 
ceived, from this circumstance, the name of 
Battletown. 

" In these combats, although frequently over- 
matched in personal strength, he manifested 
the same unyielding spirit which characterized 
him afterward in his military career. When 
worsted by his antagonist, he would pause for 



IfB HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

a time, to recruit his strength, and then return 
to the contest, again and again, until he rarely 
failed to prove victorious. 

"Equally marked u^as his invincibility of 
spirit in maturer age, when raised, by fortune 
and his own merit, to a higher and more 
honourable field of action. Defeat in battle 
he rarely experienced ; but when he did, his 
retreat was sullen, stern, and dangerous. 

" The commencement of the American re- 
volution found Mr. Morgan married and culti- 
vating a farm, which, by industry and economy, 
he had been enabled to purchase, in the county 
of Frederick. 

"Placed at the head of a rifle company, 
raised in his neighbourhood in 1775, he marched 
immediately to the American head-quarters in 
Cambridge, near Boston. 

"By order of the commander-in-chief, he 
soon afterward joined in the expedition against 
Quebec, and was made prisoner in the attempt 
on that fortress, where Arnold was wounded, 
and Montgomery fell. 

" During the assault, his daring valour and 
persevering gallantry attracted the notice and 
admiration of the enemy. 

" The assailing column to which he belonged 



DANIEL MORGAN. 79 

was led by Major Arnold. When that officer 
was wounded, and carried from the ground, 
Morgan threw himself into the lead, and, 
rushing forward, passed the first and second 
barriers. For a moment, victory appeared 
certain. But the fall of Montgomery closing 
the prospect, the assailants were repulsed, and 
the enterprise abandoned. During his captivity, 
Captain Morgan was treated with great kind- 
ness, and not a little distinction. He was re- 
peatedly visited in confinement by a British 
officer of rank, who at length made an attempt 
on his patriotism and virtue, by offering him 
the commission and emoluments of colonel in 
the British army, on condition that he would 
desert the American and join the royal standard. 

" Morgan rejected the proposal with scorn, 
and requested the courtly and corrupt negoti- 
ator ' never again to insult him in his misfor- 
tunes by an offer which plainly implied that he 
thought him a villian.' The officer withdrew, 
and did not again recur to the subject. 

" On being exchanged, Morgan immediately 
rejoined the American army, and received, by 
the recommendation of General Washington, 
the command of a regiment. 

"In the year 1777, he was placed at the 



80 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

head of a select rifle corps, with which, in 
various instances, he acted on the enemy with 
terrible effect. His troops were considered the 
most dangerous in the American service. To 
confront them in the field was almost certain 
death to the British officers. 

"On the occasion of the capture of Bur- 
goyne, the exertions and services of Colonel 
Morgan and his riflemen were beyond all praise. 
Much of the glory of the achievement be- 
longed to them. Yet so gross was the injustice 
of General Gates, that he did not even mention 
them in his official despatches. His reason for 
this was secret and dishonourable. Shortly 
after the surrender of Burgoyne, General Gates 
took occasion to hold with Morgan a private 
conversation. In the course of this he told 
him confidentially, that the main army was 
exceedingly dissatisfied with the conduct of 
General Washington; that the reputation of 
the commander-in-chief was rapidly declining; 
and that several officers of great worth threat- 
ened to resign, unless a change were produced 
in that department. 

"Colonel Morgan fathoming in an instant 
the views of his commanding officer, sternly, 
and with honest indignation, replied, 'Sir, I 



DANIEL MORGAN. 81 

have one favour to ask. Never again mention 
to me this hateful subject ; under no other man 
but General Washington, as commander-in- 
chief, vv^ill I ever serve.' 

" From that moment ceased the intimacy 
that had previously subsisted between him and 
General Gates. 

" A few days afterward the general gave a 
dinner to the principal officers of the British, 
and some of those of the American . army. 
Morgan was not invited. In the course of the 
evening, that officer found it necessary to call 
on General Gates, on official business. Being 
introduced into the dining-room, he spoke to 
the general, received his orders, and immedi- 
ately withdrew, his name unannounced. Per- 
ceiving, from his dress, that he was of high 
rank, the British officers inquired his name. 
Being told that it was Colonel Morgan, com- 
manding the rifle corps, they rose from the 
table, followed him into the yard, and iiK 
troduced themselves to him, with many conv 
plimentary and flattering expressions, declaring 
that, on the day of action, they had very se- 
verely felt him in the field. 

" In 1780, having obtained leave of absence 
from the army on account of the shattered 



82 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

condition of his health, he retired to his estate 
in the county of Frederick, and remained 
there until the appointment of General Gates 
to the command of the southern army. 

" Being waited on by the latter, and re- 
quested to accompany him, he reminded him, 
in expressions marked by resentment, of the 
unworthy treatment he had formerly experi- 
enced from him, in return for the important 
services which, he did not hesitate to assert, he 
had rendered him in his operations against the 
army of General Burgoyne. 

" Having received no acknowledgement, nor 
even civility, for aiding to decorate him with 
laurels in the north, he frankly declared that 
there were no considerations, except of a 
public nature, that could induce him to co- 
operate in his campaigns to the south. ' Mo- 
tives of public good might influence him ; be- 
cause his country had a claim on him, in any 
quarter where he could promote her interest ; 
but personal attachment must not be expected 
to exist where he had experienced nothing but 
neglect and injustice.' 

" The two officers parted, mutually dissatis- 
fied ; the one, on account of past treatment ; 
the other, of the recent interview. 



DANIEL MORGAN, 83 

" In the course of a few weeks afterward, 
Congress having promoted Colonel Morgan to 
the rank of brigadier-general by brevet, with 
a view to avail themselves of his services in 
the south, he proceeded without delay to join 
the army of General Gates. But he was pre- 
vented from serving any length of time under 
that officer, by his defeat near Camden, before 
his arrival, and his being soon afterward super- 
seded in command by General Greene. 

" Soon after taking command of the southern 
army, General Greene despatched General 
Morgan with four hundred continentals under 
Colonel Howard, Colonel Washington's corps 
of dragoons, and a few militia, amounting in 
all to about six hundred, to take position on 
the left of the British army, then lying at 
Winnsborough, under Lord Cornwallis, while 
he took post about seventy miles to his right. 
This judicious disposition excited his lordship's 
apprehensions for the safety of Ninety-Six and 
Augusta, British posts, which he considered as 
menaced by the movements of Morgan. 

" Colonel Tarleton, with a strong detachment, 
amounting, in horse and foot, to near a thousand 
men, was immediately despatched by Corn- 
wallis to the protection of Ninety-Six, with 



S4 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

orders to bring General Morgan, If possible, to 
battle. To the ardent temper and chivalrous 
disposition of the British colonel this direction 
was perfectly congenial. Greatly superior in 
numbers, he advanced on Morgan with a mena- 
cing aspect, and compelled him, at first, to fall 
back rapidly. But the retreat of the American 
commander was not long continued. Irritated 
by pursuit, reinforced by a body of militia, and 
reposing great confidence in the spirit and 
firmness of his regular troops, he halted at the 
Cowpens, and determined to gratify his ad- 
versary in his eagerness for combat. This was 
on the night of the 16th of January, 1781. 
Early in the morning of the succeeding day, 
Tarleton, being apprised of the situation of 
Morgan, pressed towards him with a redoubled 
'rapidity, lest, by renewing his retreat, he should 
again elude him. 

" But Morgan now had other thoughts than 
those of flight. Already had he, for several 
days, been at war with himself in relation to 
his conduct. Glorying in action, his spirit re- 
coiled from the humilation of retreat, and his 
resentment was roused by the insolence of 
pursuit. This mental conflict becoming more 
intolerable to him than disaster or death, his 



DANIEL MORGAN. 85 

courage triumphed, perhaps, over his prudence, 
and he resolved on putting every thing to the 
hazard of the sword. 

"By military men who have studied the 
subject, his disposition for battle is said to have 
been masterly. Two light parties of militia 
were advanced in front, with order to feel the 
enemy as they approached ; and preserving a 
desultory, well aimed fire, as they fell back to 
the front line, to range with it, and renew the 
conflict. The main body of the militia com- 
posed this line, with General Pickens at its 
head. At a suitable distance in the rear of the 
first line, a second was stationed, composed of 
the continental infantry and two companies of 
Virginia militia, commanded by Colonel How- 
ard. Washington's cavalry, reinforced with a 
company of mounted militia, armed with 
sabres, was held in reserve. 

"Posting himself then in the line of the 
regulars, he waited in silence the advance of 
the enemy. 

" Tarleton coming in sight, hastily formed 

his disposition for battle, and commenced the 

assault. Of this conflict, the following picture 

is from the pen of General Lee : 

< The American light parties quickly yielded, 
8 



86 HEROES OF THE EEVOLUTION. 

fell back, and arrayed with Pickens. The 
enemy shouting, rushed forward upon the front 
line, which retained its station, and poured in a 
close fire ; but continuing to advance with the 
bayonet on our militia, they retired, and gained 
with haste the second line. Here, with part 
of the corps, Pickens took post on Howard's 
right, and the rest fled to their horses, probably 
with orders to remove them to a further 
distance. Tarleton pushed forward, and was 
received by his adversary with unshaken firm- 
ness. The contest became obstinate ; and each 
party, animated by the example of its leader, 
nobly contended for victory. Our line main- 
tained itself so firmly as to oblige the enemy 
to order up his reserve. The advance of 
M' Arthur reanimated the British line, which 
again moved forward, and outstretching our 
front, endangered Colonel Howard's right. 
This ofiicer instantly took measures to defend 
his flank, by directing his right company to 
change its front ; but, mistaking this order, the 
company fell back ; upon which the line be- 
gan to retire, and General Morgan directed it 
to retreat to the cavalry. This manoguvre 
being performed with precision, our flank be- 
came relieved, and the new position was 



DANIEL MORGAM. 87 

assumed with promptitude. Considering this 
retrograde movement the precursor of flight, 
the British line rushed on with impetuosity and 
disorder; but as it drew near, Howard faced 
about, and gave it a close and murderous fire. 
Stunned by this unexpected shock, the most 
advanced of the enemy recoiled in confusion. 
Howard seized the happy moment, and followed 
his advantage with the bayonet. This decisive 
step gave us the day. The reserve having been 
brought near the line, shared in the destruction 
of our fire, and presented no rallying point to 
the fugitives. A part of the enemy's cavalry 
having gained our rear, fell on that portion of 
the militia who had retired to their horses. 
Washington struck at them with his dragoons, 
and drove them before him. Thus, by a si- 
multaneous effort, the infantry and cavalry of 
the enemy were routed. Morgan pressed home 
his success, and the pursuit became vigorous 
and general.' 

" In this decisive battle we lost about seventy 
men, of whom twelve only were killed. The 
British infantry, with the exception of the 
baggage guard, were nearly all killed or taken. 
One hundred, including ten officers, were killed; 
twenty-three officers and five hundred privates 



88 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

were taken. The artillery, eight hundred 
muskets, two standards, thirty-five baggage 
wagons, and one hundred dragoon horses, fell 
into our possession." 

In this battle, so glorious to the American 
arms, Tarleton had every advantage in point of 
ground, cavalry, and numbers, aided by two 
pieces of artillery. 

Soon after this brilliant exploit, frequent 
attacks of the rheumatism compelled General 
Morgan to retire from the army, and he re- 
turned to his seat in Frederick, Virginia, where 
he continued in retirement until the insurrec- 
tion in the western part of Pennsylvania, in 
1794, when he was detached by the executive 
of Virginia, at the head of the militia quota 
of that state, to suppress it. This done, he re- 
turned into the bosom of his family, where he 
remained until death closed his earthly career, 
in 1799. 

" There existed in the character of General 
Morgan a singular contradiction, which is 
worthy of notice. 

" Although in battle no man was ever more 
prodigal of the exposure of his person to 
danger, or manifested a more deliberate disre- 
gard of death ; yet, so strong was his love of 



^ DANIEL MORGAN. 89 

life at other times, that he has been frequently 
heard to declare, * he would agree to pass half 
his time as a galley-slave, rather than quit this 
world for another.' 

" The following outline of his person and 
character is from the pen of a military friend, 
who knew him intimately : 

* Brigadier-General Morgan was stout and 
active, six feet in height, strong, not too much 
encumbered with flesh, and was exactly fitted 
for the toils and pomp of war. His mind was 
discriminating and solid, but not comprehensive 
and combining. His manners plain and dec- 
orous, neither insinuating nor repulsive. His 
conversation grave, sententious, and considerate, 
unadorned, and uncaptivating. He reflected 
deeply, spoke little, and executed, with keen 
perseverance, whatever he undertook. 

" A considerable time before his death, when 
the pressure of infirmity began to be heavy, he 
became seriously concerned about his future 
welfare. From that period, his chief solace 
lay in the study of the Scriptures, and in de- 
votional exercises. He died in the belief of 
the truths of Christianity, and in full commu- 
nion with the Presbyterian Church." 

8* 



JOHN STARK, 

Brigadier-General, in tue American Armv. 

General Stark was a native of New-Hamp- 
shire, and was born in Londonderry, August 
17th, 1728. From his early youth he had 
been accustomed to the alarm of war, having 
lived in that part of the country which was 
continually subject to the incursions of the 
savages. While a child, he was captured by 
them, and adopted as one of their own 3 but 
after a few years was restored. 

Arrived at manhood, his manners were plain, 
honest, and severe ; excellently calculated for 
the benefit of society in the private walks of 
life ; and as a courageous and heroic soldier, 
he is entitled to a hio-h rank amonoj those who 
have been crowned with unfading laurels, and 
to whom a large share of glory is justly due. 
He was captain of a company of rangers in 
the provincial service during the French war, 
in 1755. 

From the commencement of the difficulties 
with the mother country, until the closing 
scene of the revolution, our country found in 
90 



JOHN STARK. 91 

General Stark one of its most resolute, inde- 
pendent, and persevering defenders. The first 
call of his country found him ready. When 
the report of Lexington battle reached him, he 
was engaged at work in his saw-mill : fired 
with indignation and a martial spirit, he imme- 
diately seized his musket, and with a band of 
heroes proceeded to Cambridge. The morning 
after his arrival, he received a colonel's com- 
mission, and availing himself of his own 
popularity, and the enthusiasm of the day, in 
two hours he enlisted eight hundred men. On 
the memorable 17th of June, at Breed's Hill, 
Colonel Stark, at the head of his backwoods- 
men of New-Hampshire, poured on the enemy 
that deadly fire, from a sure aim, which effected 
such remarkable destruction in their ranks, and 
compelled them twice to retreat. During the 
whole of this dreadful conflict. Colonel Stark 
evinced that consummate bravery and intrepid 
zeal, which entitle his name to perpetual 
remembrance. 

His spirit pervaded his native state, and ex- 
cited them to the most patriotic efforts. The 
British General Burgoyne, in one of his letters, 
observes, " That the Hampshire Grants, almost 
unknown in the last war, now abound in the 



92 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

most active and most rebellious race on the 
continent, and hang like a gathering storm upon 
my left." 

Distinct from his efforts in rallying the 
energies of his native state, he obtained great 
credit in the active operations of the field. At 
that gloomy period of the revolution, the re- 
treat of Washington through New Jersey, in 
1776, when the saviour of our country, appa- 
rently deserted of heaven and by his country, 
with the few gallant spirits who gathered the 
closer around him in that dark hour, precipi- 
tately fled before an imperious and victorious 
enemy — it was on this occasion that the per- 
severing valour of Stark enrolled him among 
the firm and resolute defenders of their country; 
and, with them, entitles him to her unceasing 
gratitude. 

But as he fearlessly shared with Washington 
the dark and gloomy night of defeat, so also 
he participated with him in the joy of a bright 
morning of victory and hope. In the suc- 
cessful enterprise against Trenton, Stark, then 
a colonel, acted a conspicuous part, and covered 
himself with glory. General Wilkinson, in 
his memoirs, says, " I must not withhold due 
praise from the dauntless Stark, who dealt death 



JOHN STARK. 93 

wherever he fouad resistance, and broke down 
all opposition before him." 

Soon after this affair, Colonel Stark, from 
some supposed injustice toward him on the 
part of Congress, quitted the continental ser- 
vice, and returned to New Hampshire. 

" When he was urged by the government of 
New Hampshire to take the command of their 
militia, he refused, unless he should be at 
liberty to serve or not, under a continental 
officer, as he should judge proper. It was not 
a time for debate, and it was known that the 
militia would follow wherever Stark would 
lead. The assembly therefore invested him 
with a separate command, and gave him orders 
to * repair to Charlestown, on Connecticut 
River ; there to consult with a committee of 
<the New Hampshire Grants respecting his 
future operations, and the supply of his men 
with provisions ; to take the command of the 
militia, and march into the Grants ; to act in 
conjunction with the troops of that new state, 
or any other of the states, or of the United 
States, or separately, as it should appear ex- 
pedient to him, for the protection of the 
people and the annoyance of the enemy.' " 

Agreeably to his orders, Stark proceeded, in 



94 HEUOES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

a few days, to Charlestown; his men ver)^ 
readily followed, and, as fast as they arrived, 
he sent them forward to join the troops of 
Vermont under Colonel Warner, who had 
taken his situation at Manchester. At that 
place he joined Warner witli about eight 
hundred men from New Hampshire, and found 
another body of men from Vermont, who put 
themselves under his command ; and he was at 
the head of fourteen hundred men. Most of 
them' had been in the two former campaigns, 
and well officered ; and were, in every respect, 
a body of very good troops. Schuyler re- 
peatedly urged Stark to join the troops under 
his command, but he declined complying. He 
was led to this conduct not only by the reasons 
which have been mentioned, but by a difference 
of opinion as to the best method of opposing" 
Burgoyne. Schuyler wished to collect all the 
American troops in the front, to prevent Bur- 
goyne from marching on to Albany. Stark 
was of opinion that the surest way to check 
Burgoyne was to have a body of men on his 
rear, ready to fall upon him in that quarter, 
whenever a favourable opportunity should pre- 
sent. The New England militia had not 
formed a high opinion of Schuyler as a 



JOHN STARK. 95 

general ; and Stark meant to keep himself in a 
situation in which he might embrace any 
favourable opportunity for action, either in 
conjunction with him, or otherwise ) and with 
that view intended to hang on the rear of the 
British troops, and embrace the first opportu- 
nity which should present, to make an attack 
upon that quarter. But Stark assured Schuyler 
that he would join in any measure necessary to 
promote the public good, but wished to avoid 
any thing that was not consistent with his own 
honour; and if it was thought necessary, he 
would march to his camp. He wrote particu- 
larly, that he would lay aside all private re- 
sentment, when it appeared in opposition to 
the public good. But in the midst of these 
protestations he was watching for an opportu- 
nity to discover his courage and patriotism, by 
falling upon some part of Burgoyne's army. 

While the American army was thus assu- 
ming a more respectable appearance, General 
Burgoyne was making very slow advances 
towards Albany. From the 28th of July to 
the 15th of August, the British army was con- 
tinually employed in bringing forward batteaux, 
provisions, and ammuniton, from Fort George 
to the first navigable part of Hudson's Kiver j 



96 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

a distance of not more than eighteen miles. 
The labour was excessive ; the Europeans were 
but little acquainted with the methods of per- 
forming it to advantage, and the effect was in 
no degree equivalent to the expense of labour 
and time. With all the efforts that Burgoyne 
could make, encumbered with his artillery and 
baggage, his labours were inadequate to the 
purpose of supplying the army with provisions 
for its daily consumption, and the establishment 
of the necessary magazines. And after his 
utmost exertions for fifteen days, there were 
not above four day's provisions in the store, 
nor above ten batteaux in Hudson's River. 

In such circumstances, the British general 
found that it would be impossible to procure 
sufficient supplies of provisions by the way of 
Fort George, and determined to replenish his 
own magazines at the expense of those of the 
Americans. Having received information that 
a large quantity of stores were laid up at Ben- 
nington, and guarded only by the militia, he 
formed the design of surprising that place ; and 
was made to believe that as soon as a detach- 
ment of the royal army should appear in that 
quarter, it would receive effectual assistance 
from a large body of loyalists, who only waited 



JOHN STARK. 97 

for the appearance of a support, and would in 
that event come forward and aid the royal 
cause. Full of these expectations, he detached 
Colonel Baum, a German officer, with a select 
body of troops, to surprise the place. His 
force consisted of about five hundred regular 
troops, some Canadians, and more than one 
hundred Indians, with two light pieces of ar- 
tillery. To facilitate their operations, and to 
be ready to take advantage of the success of 
the detachment, the royal army moved along 
the east bank of Hudson's River, and encamped 
hearly opposite to Saratoga; having, at the 
same time, thrown a bridge of rafts over the 
river, by which the army passed to that place. 
With a view to support Baum, if it should be 
found necessary, Lieutenant-Colonel Brey man's 
corps, consisting of the Brunswick grenadiers, 
light infantry, and chasseurs, were posted at 
Battenkill. 

General Stark having received information 
that a party of Indians were at Cambridge, sent 
Lieutenant-Colonel Greg, on August the 13th, 
with a party of two hundred men, to stop their 
progress. Toward night he was informed by 
express that a large body of regulars was in 
the rear of the Indians, and advancing toward 
9 



98 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Bennington. On this intelligence, Stark drew 
together his brigade, and the militia that were 
at hand, and sent on to Manchester, to Colonel 
Warner, to bring on his regiment ; he sent ex- 
presses at the same time to the neighbouring 
militia, to join him with the utmost speed. 
On the morning of the 14th, he marched with 
his troops, and at the distance of seven miles 
he met Greg on the retreat, and the enemy 
within a mile of him. Stark drew up his 
troops in order of battle; but the enem}', 
coming in sight, halted upon a very advanta- 
geous piece of ground. Baum perceived the 
Americans were too strong to be attacked with 
his present force, and sent an express to Bur- 
goyne with an account of his situation, and to 
have Breyman march immediately to support 
him. In the meantime small parties of the 
Americans kept up a skirmish with the enemy, 
killed and wounded thirty of them, with two 
of their Indian chiefs, without any loss to 
themselves. The ground the Americans had 
taken was unfavourable for a general action, 
and Stark retreated about a mile, and encamped. 
A council of war was held, and it was agreed 
to send two detachments upon the enemy's 
rear, while the rest of the troops should make 



JOHN STARK. 99 

an attack upon their front. The next day the 
weather was rainy, and though it prevented a 
general action, there were frequent skirmishes 
in small parties, which proved favourable and 
encourao-ino; to the Americans. ' 

On August the 16th, in the morning. Stark 
was joined by Colonel Symonds and a body of 
militia from Berkshire, and proceeded to attack 
the enemy, agreeably to the plan which had 
been concerted. Colonel Baum in the meantime 
had entrenched on an advantageous piece of 
ground near St. Koick's mills, on a branch of 
Hoosic River ; and rendered his post as strong 
as his circumstances and situation would admit. 
Colonel Nichols was detached with two hun- 
dred men to the rear of his left. Colonel Her- 
rick with three hundred men to the rear of his 
right ; both were to join, and then make the 
attack. Colonels Hubbard and Stickney, with 
two hundred men, were ordered on the right, 
and one hundred were advanced towards the 
front, to draw the attention of the enemy that 
way. About three o'clock in the afternoon 
the troops had taken their station, and were 
ready to commence the action. While Nichols 
and Herrick were bringing their troops together, 
the Indians were alarmed at the prospect, and 



100 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

pushed off between the two corps; but re- 
ceived a fire as they were passing, by which 
three of them were killed and two wounded. 
Nichols then began the attack, and was followed 
by all the other divisions ; those in the front 
immediately advanced, and in a few minutes 
the action became general. It lasted about two 
hours, and was like one continued peal of 
thunder. Baum made a brave defence ; and 
the German dragoons, after they had expended 
their amn^unition, led by their colonel, charged 
with their swords, but they were soon over- 
powered. Their works were carried on all 
sides, their two pieces of cannon were taken, 
Colonel Baum himself was mortally wounded 
and taken prisoner, and all his men, except a 
few who had escaped into the woods, were 
either killed or taken prisoners. Having com- 
pleted the business by taking the whole party, 
the militia began to disperse and look out for 
plunder. But in a few minutes Stark received 
information that a large reinforcement was on 
their march, and within two miles of him. 
Fortunately at that moment Colonel Warner 
came up with his regiment from Manchester. 
This brave and experienced officer commanded 
a regiment of continental troops, which had 



JOHN STARK. 101 

been raised in Vermont. Mortified that he had 
not been in the former engagement, he instantly 
led on his men against Breyman, and began 
the second engagement. Stark collected the 
militia as soon as possible, and pushed on to his 
assistance. The action became general, and 
the battle continued obstinate on both sides 
till sunset, when the Germans were forced to 
give way, and were pursued till dark. They 
left their two field-pieces behind, and a con- 
siderable number were made prisoners. They 
retreated in the best manner they could, im- 
proving the advantages of the evening and 
night, to which alone their escape was ascribed. 
In these actions the Americans took four 
brass field-pieces, twelve brass drums, two 
hundred and fifty dragoon swords, four ammu- 
nition wagons, and about seven hundred prison- 
ers, with their arms and accoutrements. Two 
hundred and seven men were found dead upon 
the spot, the numbers of wounded were un- 
known. The loss of the Americans was but 
small ; thirty were slain, and about forty were 
wounded. Stark was not a little pleased at 
having so fair an opportunity to vindicate his 
own conduct. He had now shown that no ne- 
glect from Congress had made him disaffected 
9* 



102 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

to the American cause, and that he had ren- 
dered a much more important service than he 
could have done by joining Schuyler, and re- 
maining inactive in his camp. Congress em- 
braced the opportunity to assign to him his 
rank; and though he had not given to them 
any account of his victory, or wrote to them 
at all upon the subject, on October the fourth 
they resolved, " That the thanks of Congress 
be presented to General Stark, of the New- 
Hampshire militia, and the officers and troops 
under his command, for their brave and suc- 
cessful attack upon, and signal victory over 
the enemy, in their lines at Bennington : and 
that Brigadier Stark be appointed a brigadier- 
general in the army of the United States." 
And never were thanks more deserved, or more 
wisely given to a military officer. 

" In his official account of the affair. General 
Stark thus writes: *It lasted two hours, the 
hottest I ever saw in rmj life ; it represented one 
continued clap of thunder : however, the enemy 
were obliged to give way, and leave their field- 
pieces and all their baggage behind them : they 
were all environed within two breast-works 
with artillery ; but our martial courage proved 
too strong for them. I then gave orders to rally 



JOHN STARK. 103 

' again, in order to secure the victory ; but in a 
few minutes was informed that there was a 
large reinforcement on their march, within 
two miles. Colonel Warner's regiment luckily 
coming up at the moment, renewed the attack 
with fresh vigour. I pushed forward as many 
of the men as I could to their assistance ; the 
battle continued obstinate on both sides until 
sunset ; the enemy was obliged to retreat ; we 
pursued them till dark, and had day lasted an 
hour longer, should have taken the whole body 
of them.' 

"On what small events does the popular 
humour and military success depend ! The cap- 
ture of one thousand Germans by General 
Washington, at Trenton, had served to wake up, 
and save the whole continent. The exploit of 
Stark at Bennington, operated with the same 
kind of influence, and produced a similar effect. 

This victory was the first event that had 
proved encouraging to the Americans in the 
northern department, since the death of General 
Montgomery. Misfortune had succeeded mis- 
fortune, and defeat had followed defeat from 
that period till now. The present instance was 
the first in which victory had quitted the royal 
standard, or seemed even to be wavering. She 



104' HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

was now found with the American arms, and 
the effect seemed, in fact, to be greater than the 
cause. It raised the spirit of the country to an 
uncommon degree of animation; and by 
showing the militia what they could perform, 
rendered them willing and desirous to turn out 
and try what fortunes would await their ex- 
ertions. It had a still greater effect on the 
royal army. The British generals were sur- 
prised to hear that an enemy whom they had 
contemplated with no other feelings than those 
of contempt, should all at once wake up, and 
discover much of the spirit of heroism. To 
advance upon the mouth of cannon, to attack 
fortified lines, to carry strong entrenchments, 
were exploits which they supposed belonged 
exclusively to the armies of kings. To see a 
body of American militia, ill dressed, but little 
disciplined, without cannon, armed only with 
farmers' guns,without bayonets, and who had 
been accustomed to fly at their approach ; that 
such men should force the entrenchments, cap- 
ture the cannon, kill and make prisoners of a 
large body of the royal army, was a matter of 
indignation, astonishment and surprise." 

"General Stark volunteered his services 
under General Gates at Saratoga, and assisted in 



JOHN STARK. 105 

the council which stipulated the surrender of 
General Burgoyne ; nor did he relinquish his 
valuable services till he could greet his native 
country as an independent empire. General 
Stark was of the middle stature, not formed by 
nature to exhibit an erect soldierly mien. His 
manners were frank and unassuming, but he 
manifested a peculiar sort of eccentricity and 
negligence, which precluded all display of 
personal dignity, and seemed to place him 
among those of ordinary rank in life. His 
character, as a private citizen, was unblemished, 
and he was ever held in respect. For the last 
few years of his life, he enjoyed a pecuniary 
bounty from the government. He lived to the 
advanced age of ninety-three years, eight 
months, and twenty-four days, and died May 
8th, 1822." 



HUGH MERCER, 

MajorGeneral in the American Armt. 

To fight 
In a just cause, and for our country's glory, 
Is the best office of the best of men ; 
And to decline when these motives urge, 
Is infamy beneath a coward's baseness. 

Havard's Regulus, 

In the revolution which released our country 
from the domination of Great Britain, foreign- 
ers as -well as native Americans, espoused the 
cause of the colonies. No examples are ne- 
cessary to prove this : — we at once think of 
Steuben, — of Lafayette, — of Kosciusko — of 
the many who left their native land to strike a 
blow for freedom in the Western World. 
Numerous were the Britons, also, who joined 
the standard of patriotism, even though it was 
raised in opposition to the lion of their own 
banner. Instances of two of the most cele- 
brated of these, both for their noble qualities 
and early deaths, — for they occurred during an 
early period of the contest, — we see in James 
Montgomery, and Hugh Mercer. The former 
106 



HUGH MERCER. 107 

we need not further mention in this place, — 
but of the latter we will give a brief sketch. 

Hugh Mercer was born near Aberdeen in 
the north of Scotland, about the year 1723. 
He studied medicine, and as an assistant surgeon 
he was with the army of the Pretender, Charles 
Edward, at the field of Culloden. That battle 
was fought on the 16th April, 1746, and early 
in the year 1747, Mercer, fleeing from Scotland 
in consequence of his participation in the re- 
bellion, landed at Philadelphia. Thirty years 
afterwards his corpse was interred in that 
place — and finally, on the 26th November 
1840, his remains, with all the * pride, pomp, 
and circumstance, of glorious war,' were re- 
moved from their first resting place, and buried 
in the beautiful cemetry of Laurel Hill, near 
the same city. 

From Philadelphia Mercer proceeded to the 
frontier of Pennsylvania, and settled near 
the present village of Mercersburg, Franklin 
County. Here he remained engaged, it is be- 
lieved, in farming occupations, until the com- 
mencement of the French and Indian war of 
1755. After Braddock's defeat, the whole 
frontier of this province lay exposed to the 
attacks of the savages. The colonists were 



108 HEROES OF TIIE REVOLUTION. 

continually harassed by their incursions, and at 
last the Legislature raised a force of three 
hundred men, and gave the command to Colonel 
John Armstrong, under whom Mercer was 
appointed captain. The troops marched, in 
1756, from Fort Shirley through a hostile 
country to the Alleghany river, and, unknown 
to the enemy, arrived at an Indian town called 
Kittanln^, within twenty-five miles of Fort 
Du Quesne. At day-break the Americans at- 
tacked the place, and after a short action 
carried the town, and completely destroyed it. 
In this conflict Mercer was severel)'- wounded 
in the right wrist and during the confusion 
which succeeded the taking of the Fort, he 
became separated from the rest of his company, 
and was obliged to set off alone, for the settle- 
ments. Becoming faint from loss of blood, 
and hearing the war-whoop of a body of Indians 
who approached, he secreted himself in the 
hollow trunk of a large tree. The savages 
came up, and stayed about the place some time^ 
for the purpose of resting themselves, but soon 
continued their way. Mercer then pushed on, 
and, having reached the waters that emptied 
into the Potomac, he finally, after wandering 



HUGH MERCER. 109 

in the woods for some weeks, arrived at Fort 
Cumberland. 

In 1758, the provincial forces were reorga- 
nized, and placed in a more effective condition. 
Mercer was promoted to the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel, and accompanied General Forbes in his 
expedition to Fort Du Quesne. He was left 
with two hundred men in charge of the fort, 
and maintained it until he was relieved, not- 
u'^hstanding the difficulties which attended it. 
Washington — with whom Mercer first became 
acquainted in this expedition — wrote to Gover- 
nor Fauquier that the men left in the fort were 
*^ in such a miserable condition, having hardly 
rags to cover their nakedness, and exposed to 
the inclemency of the weather in this inclem- 
ent season, that sickness, death and desertion, 
if they are not speedily supplied, must destroy 
them." As soon as he was relived, Mercer 
left the army, and repaired to Fredericksburg, 
in Virginia, where he continued to practise his 
profession. 

** The repose which the colonies enjoyed be- 
tween the peace of 1763 and the beginning of 
the revolution, was short and restless. The 
young Nation lay, not in the slumber of ex- 
haustion, but in the fitful sleep which the 
10 



110 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

consciousness of a great futurity allows. It 
slept too with arms by its side, and there 
needed but the trumpet's feeblest note to arouse 
it to action. The involuntary concord of the 
Colonies at the outbreak of the Revolution is 
one of its most singular characteristics. It 
was a concord that transcended all mere po- 
litical relations — it was beyond, and above all 
political union. It was the instinctive appre- 
ciation of common right, the quick sens^ of 
common injury. There seemed to be but one 
frame, and when the hand of tyranny was 
rudely laid on a single member, the whole 
system quivered beneath the contact, and braced 
itself to resistance."* 

None of the colonies was more distinguished 
in the contest, for firm resistance to the arbi- 
trary measures of the mother country, than 
were MasAchusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia. 
Hancock and Adams, Morris and Hopkinson, 
Henry and Jefferson, — all were untiring in 
their efforts to arouse their countrymen. Nor 
were these alone : other men, less celebrated 
in the annals of our country, perhaps, but yet 
equally patriotic, aided them. Of these Mer- 
<:er was one. On the 25th of April 1775, he 

* Reed's eulogy on General Mercer. 



HUGH MERCER. Ill 

wrote to Washington informing him of an 
attack upon Williamsburg by some seamen 
from a British vessel, and of their removal of 
the powder from the magazine, by order of the 
Governor. He also said that the volunteer 
company of Fredericksburg intended to march 
in a few days to Williamsburg to secure the 
military stores yet remaiaing there. In June 
of the same year Washington was appointed 
Commander-in-chief, and on June 5th 1776, 
at the instance of Washington himself, Mercer 
was created Brigadier-General of the American 
troops. 

The army was at New York when Mercer 
joined, and he remained with it constantly. 
The projected attack on Staten Island was 
confided to him — he was with the forces at 
White Plains — during the retreat through New 
Jersey, — and in short he continued in active 
service until his death. 

The Americans had at last retired across the 
Delaware, but the gloomy appearance of their 
prospects increased. In Philadelphia " all able 
bodied men who were not conscientiously 
scrupulous about bearing arms," were ordered 
by General Putnam to " appear in the State 
House yard with their arms and accoutrements," 



112 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

that they might be sent to reinforce General 
Washington. With the assistance of these 
militia, it was resolved by the Commander-in- 
chief, — and the design was warmly seconded 
by Greene, Reed, and Mercer, — to attack the 
Hessian troops at Trenton. The result of this 
plan need not be here given; it is too well 
known to every reader of American history. 
General Washington immediately after the 
action recrossed the Delaware with his prison- 
ers, and remained in his former position until 
the 29th of December, when he again entered 
New Jersey, and on the 2d of January met the 
main body of the British troops. The approach 
of darkness deferred the action, and during the 
night a council of the American officers was 
held to consider the means of rescuing them- 
selves from the difficulties which surrounded 
them. In this state of affairs Mercer proposed 
the brilliant plan of ordering up the Phila- 
delphia militia, and making a night march upon 
Princeton and Brunswick. It was agreed to 
without dissent and the troops were set in 
motion. General Mercer commanded the ad- 
vanced party, and as day broke he observed a 
large body of British troops marching towards 
Trenton. He immediately proposed to the 



HUGH MERCER. 113 

Commander-in-chief to throw himself between 
this corps, and their reserve at Princeton, and 
thus bring on a general action, — and upon the 
consent of Washington he executed the move- 
ment. The Americans were however thrown 
into confusion at the death of Colonel Hazlet, 
and fell back. Mercer's horse was killed, but 
notwithstanding that he was alone, he refused 
to surrender and fought single handed with a 
British detachment which advanced towards 
him. The combat was too unequal, however, 
and he was beaten down by the butts of mus- 
kets and mortally wounded by bayonets. After 
the American troops had gained the day he 
was removed to a neighbouring house, and 
there expired, January 12th, 1777. 

"On the 14th of January the remains of 
Mercer were brought to Philadelphia, and on the 
next day but one were interred in the grave 
from which they were removed to Laurel Hill 
November 26th 1840. 

"There are aged men yet amongst us — so 
aged that before the brief remnant of this year 
expires the generation may cease to live — who 
remember the solemnity of that funeral. It 
was the Nation mourning for her first child. 
It was a people in sad amazement that a 
10* 



114* HEROES OP THE REVOLUTION. 

gallant citizen had indeed died for them. 
And when the ancient inhabitants of this city 
thus gathered in throngs to bear the soldier's 
mangled corpse to its place of rest, it was com- 
mitted to the ground with the sacred service 
which bade them look to the promised day 
when '^ the earth and the sea shall give up their 
dead." The grave thus solemnly closed 
has been unsealed — affectionately, reverently, 
piously. — But yet upon the solemnities of this 
day, the reproach of a vain and profane pageant 
may fasten, if the mouldering remains of the 
dead can be placed in the midst of the living 
without stirring every heart to its very centre."* 

* Reeds eulogy. Delivered at Philadelphia November 
26th, 1840, when the remains of Mercer were disinterred 
and again buried at Laurel ililL 



ETHAN ALLEN, 

Brigadier-General in the American Armt. 

General Allen was born in Salisbury, Con- 
necticut, from whence, while he was yet 
young, his parents emigrated to Vermont. By 
this circumstance he was deprived of the ad- 
vantages of an early education. But, although 
he never felt its genial influence, nature had 
endowed him with strong powers of mind ; and 
when called to take the field, he showed him- 
self an able leader, and an intrepid soldier. 

At the commencement of the disturbances in 
Vermont, about the year 1770, he took a most 
active part in favour of the Green Mountain 
Boys, as the first settlers were then called, in 
opposition to the government of New York. 
Bold, enterprising, and ambitious, he undertook 
to direct the proceedings of the inhabitants, and 
wrote several pamphlets to display the supposed 
injustice and oppressive designs of the New 
York proceedings. The uncultivated rough- 
ness of his own temper and manners seems to 
have assisted him in giving a just description of 
the views and proceedings of speculating land- 

115 



116 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

jobbers. His writings produced effects so hostile 
to the views of the state of New York, that an 
act of outlawry was passed against him, and five 
hundred guineas were offered for his apprehen- 
sion. But his party was too numerous and 
faithful to permit him to be disturbed by any 
apprehensions for his safety. In all the 
struggles of the day he was successful, and 
proved a valuable friend to those whose cause 
he had espoused. 

The news of the battle of Lexington deter- 
mined Allen to engage on the side of his country, 
and inspired him with the desire of demonstra- 
ting his attachment to liberty by some bold 
exploit. While in this state of mind, a plan 
for taking Ticonderoga and Crown-Point by 
surprise, which was formed by several gentle- 
men in Connecticut, was communicated to 
him, and he readily engaged in the project. 
Receiving directions from the General Assembly 
of Connecticut, to raise the Green Mountain 
Boys and conduct the enterprise, he collected 
two hundred and thirty of the hardy settlers, 
and proceeded to Castleton. Here he was 
unexpectedly joined by Col. Arnold, who had 
been commissioned by the Massachusetts com- 
mittee to raise four hundred men, and effect 



ETHAN ALLEN. 117 

the same oljt'ct which was now about to be 
accomplished. They reached the lake opposite 
Ticonderoga on the evening of the 9th of 
May, 1775. With the utmost difficulty boats 
were procured, and eighty-three men M-ere 
landed near the garrison* Arnold now wished 
to assume the command, to lead on the men, 
and swore that he would go in himself the first. 
Allen swore that he should not. The dispute 
beginning to run high, some of the gentlemen 
present interposed, and it was agreed that both 
should go in together, Allen on the right hand, 
and Arnold on the left. The following is 
Allen's own account of the affair : — 

" The first systematical and bloody attempt 
at Lexington, to enslave America, thoroughly 
electrified my mind, and fully determined me 
to take a part with my country. And while I 
was wishing for an opportunity to signalize 
nnyself in its behalf, directions were privately 
gent to me from the then colony, now state of 
Connecticut, to raise the Green Mountain Boys, 
and, if possible, with them to surprise and take 
the fortress of Ticonderoga. This enterprise I 
cheerfully undertook : and after first guarding 
all the several passes that led thither, to cut off 
all intelligence between the garrison ancMhe 



118 HEUOES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

country, made a forced march from Bennington, 
and arrived at the lake opposite Ticonderoga on 
the evening of the 9th day of May, 1775, with 
two hundred and thirty valiant Green-mountain 
Boys ; and it was with the utmost difficulty 
that I procured boats to cross the lake. 
However, I landed eighty-three men near the 
garrison, and sent the boats back for the rear- 
guard, commanded by Col. Seth Warner ; but 
the day began to dawn, and I found myself 
necessitated to attack the fort before the rear 
could cross the lake ; and as it was viewed 
hazardouf, I harangued the officers and soldiers 
in the manner following : — * Friends and 
fellow-soldiersj you have, for a number of 
years past, been a scourge and terror to 
arbitrary powers. Your valour has been famed 
abroad, and acknowledged, as appears by the 
advice and orders to me from the General 
Assembly of Connecticut, to surprise and take 
the garrison now before us. I now propose to 
advance before you, and in person conduct you 
through the wicket-gate ; for we must this 
morning either quit our pretensions to valour, 
or possess ourselves of this fortress in a few 
minutes; and inasmuch as it is a desperate 
attempt, which none but the bravest of men 



ETHAN ALLEN. 119 

dare undertake, I do not urge it on any contrary 
to his will. You that will undertake volunta- 
rily, poise your firelock.' 

" The men being at this time drawn up in 
three ranks, each poised his firelock. I ordered 
them to face to the right, and at the head of 
the centre file, marched them immediately to 
the wicket-gate aforesaid, where I found a sentry 
posted, who instantly snapped his fusee at me. 
I ran immediately towards him, and he 
retreated through the covered way into the 
parade within the garrison, gave a halloo, and 
ran under a bomb-proof. My pa^ty, who 
followed me into the fort, I formed on the 
parade in such a manner as to face the barracks, 
which faced each other. The garrison being 
asleep, except the sentries, we gave three 
huzzas, which greatly surprised them. One 
of the sentries made a pass at one of my officers 
with a charged bayonet, and slightly wounded 
him. My first thought was to kill him with 
my sword, but in an instant I altered the design 
and fury of the blow to a slight cut on the side 
of the head ; upon which he dropped his gun 
and asked quarters, which I readily granted 
him ; and demanded the place were the com- 
manding officer kept. He showed me a pair of 



120 HEROES OF THE nEVOLUTION. 

stairs in the front of the garrison, wliich 
led up to a second story in said barracks, to 
which I immediately repaired, and ordered 
the commander, Captain Delaplace, to come 
forth instantly, or I would sacrifice the whole 
garrison ; at which time the captain came 
immediately to the door with his breeches in 
his hand, when I ordered him to deliver to me 
the fort instantly; he asked me by what 
authority I demanded it. I answered him, * In 
the name of the great Jehovah, and the 
Continental Congress.' The authority of 
Congress being very little known at that time, 
he began to speak again : but I interrupted him, 
and witli my drawn sword near his head, again 
demanded an immediate surrender of the 
garrison 5 with which he then complied, and 
ordered his men to be forthwith paraded 
without arms, as he had given up the garrison. 
In the meantime, some of my officers had given 
orders, and in consequence thereof, sundry of 
the barrack doors were beat down, and about 
one third of the garrison imprisoned, which 
consisted of said commander, a Lieutenant 
Feliham, a conductor of artillery, a gunner, 
two sergeants, and forty-four rank and file; 
about one hundred pieces of cannon, one 



ETHAN ALLEN. 121 

thirteen inch mortar, and a number of swivels. 
This surprise was carried into execution in the 
gray of the mornino; of the 10th of May, 1775. 
The sun seemed to rise that morning with a 
superior lustre ; and Ticonderoga and its de- 
pendencies smiled on its conquerors, who tossed 
about the flowing bowl, and wished success to 
Congress, and the liberty and freedom of 
America. Happy it was for me, at that time, 
that the future pages of the book of fate, which 
afterwards unfolded a miserable scene of two 
years and eight months' imprisonment, were hid 
from my view." 

This brilliant exploit secured to Allen a high 
reputation for intrepid valour throughout the 
country. In the fall of 1775, he was sent 
twice into Canada to observe the dispositions 
of the people, and attach them, if possible, to 
the American cause. During one of these 
excursions, he made a rash and romantic 
attempt upon Montreal. He had been sent by 
General Montgomery, with a guard of eighty 
men, on a tour into the villages in the neigh- 
bourhood. On his return he was met by a 
Major Brown, who had been on the same 
business. It was agreed between them to make 
a descent upon the island of Montreal. Allen 
11 



122 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

was to cross the river, and land with his party 
a little north of the city j while Brown was to 
pass over a little to the south, with near two 
hundred men. Allen crossed the river in the 
night, as had been proposed; but, by some 
means, Brown and his party failed. Instead 
of returning, Allen, with great rashness, con- 
cluded to maintain his ground. General 
Carlton soon received intelligence of Allen's 
situation and the smallness of his numbers, and 
marched out against him with about forty 
regulars, and a considerable number of English, 
Canadians, and Indians, amounting, in the 
whole, to some hundreds. Allen attempted to 
defend himself, but it was to no purpose. 
Being deserted by several of his men, and 
having fifteen killed, he, with thirty-eight of 
his men, were taken prisoners. 

He was now kept for some time in irons, 
and was treated with the most rigorous and 
unsparing cruelty. From his narrative, it 
appears that the irons placed on him were 
uncommonly heavy, and so fastened, that he 
could not lie down otherwise than on his back. 
A chest was his seat by day and his bed by 
night. Soon after his capture, still loaded with 
irons, he was sent to England, being assured 



J 



ETHAN ALLEN. 1^3 

that the halter would be the reward of his 
rebellion when he arrived there. Finding that 
threats and menaces had no effect upon him, 
hio;h command and a laro^e tract of the con- 
quered country, were afterward offered him, 
on condition that he would join the British. 
To the last he replied, " that he viewed their 
offer of conquered United States land to be 
similar to that which the devil offered to Jesus 
Christ : to give him all the kingdoms of the 
world, if he would fall down and worship him, 
when, at the same time, the poor devil had not 
one foot of land upon earth." 

After his arrival, about the middle of 
December, he was lodged, for a short time, in 
Pendennis Castle, near Falmouth. On the 8th 
of January, 1776, he was put on board a frigate, 
and by a circuitous route again carried to 
Halifax. Here he remained closely confined 
in the jail from June to October, when he was 
removed to New- York. During the passage to 
this place, Captain Burke, a daring prisoner, 
proposed to kill the British captain, and seize 
the frigate ; but Allen refused to engage in the 
plot, and was probably the means of saving 
the life of Captain Smith, who had treated him 
with kindness. He was kept at New- York 



124« HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

about a year and a half, sometimes imprisoned, 
and sometimes permitted to be on parole. 
While here, he had an opportunity to observe 
the inhuman manner in which the American 
prisoners were treated. In one of the churches 
in which they were crowded, he saw seven 
lying dead at one time, and others biting 
pieces of chips from hunger. He calculated, 
that of the prisoners taken on Long-Island and 
at Fort-Washington, near two thousand perished 
by hunger and cold, or in consequence of 
diseases occasioned by the impurity of their 
prisons. 

Colonel Allen was exchanged for a Colonel 
Campbell, May 6th, 1778, and after having 
repaired to head quarters, and offered his 
services to General Washington, in case his 
health should be restored, he returned to Ver- 
mont. His arrival on -the evening of the last 
day of May gave his friends great joy, and it 
was announced by the discharge of cannon. 
As an expression of confidence in his patriotism 
and military talents, he was very soon ap- 
pointed to the command of the state militia. 
His intrepidity, however, was never again 
brought to the test, though his patriotism was 
tried by an unsuccessful attempt of the British 



ETHAN ALLEN. 125 

to bribe him to attempt a union of Vermont 
with Canada. He died suddenly on his estate, 
February 13th, 1789. 

General Allen was brave, humane, and gen- 
erous ; yet his conduct does not seem to have 
been much influenced by considerations res- 
pecting that holy and merciful Being, whose 
character and whose commands are disclosed 
to us in the Scriptures. His notions with re- 
gard to religion were loose and absurd. He 
believed with Pythagoras, the heathen phil- 
osopher, that man, after death, would trans- 
migrate into beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, &c. 
and often informed his friends that he himself 
expected to live again in the form of a large 
white horse. 



11* 



JOHN CADWALADER, 

Brigadier-General in the American Army. 

This zealous and inflexible friend of America 
^vas born in Philadelphia, 174-2. He was 
distinguished for his intrepidity as a soldier, 
in upholding the cause of freedom during the 
most discouraging periods of danger and mis- 
fortune that America ever beheld. 

At the dawn of the revolution, he com- 
manded a corps of volunteers, designated as 
" The silk stocking company," of which nearly 
all the members were appointed to commissions 
in the line of the army. He afterwards was 
appointed colonel of one of the city battalions, 
and being thence promoted to the rank of 
brigadier-general, was intrusted with the com- 
mand of the Pennsylvania troops, in the 
important operations of the winter campaign 
of 1776 and 1777. He acted with this com- 
mand, as a volunteer, in the actions of Prince- 
ton, Brandy wine, Germantown, and Monmouth, 
and on other occasions,. and received the thanks 
of General Washington, whose confidence and 
regard he uniformly enjoyed. 

126 



JOHN CADWALADER. 127 

The merits and services of General Cadwal- 
ader, induced Congress, early in 1778, to 
compliment him, by a unanimous vote, with 
the appointment of general of cavalry ; which 
appointment he declined, under an impression 
that he could be more useful to his country in 
the sphere in which he had been acting. 

He was strongly and ardently attached to 
General Washington, and his celebrated duel 
with General Conway arose from his spirited 
opposition to the intrigues of that officer to 
undermine the standing of the commander-in- 
chief. The following anecdote of the ren- 
counter is related in the "Anecdotes of the 
Revolutionary War." 

" The particulars of this duel, originating in 
the honourable feelings of General Cadwalader, 
indignant at the attempt of his adversary to 
injure the reputation of the commander-in- 
chief, by representing him as unqualified for 
the exalted station which he held, appears 
worthy of record. Nor ought the coolness 
observed on the occasion by the parties to be 
forgotten, as it evinces very strongly, that 
though imperious circumstances may compel 
men of nice feeling to meet, the dictates of 
honour may be satisfied without the smallest 



128 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

deviation from the most rigid rules of politeness. 
When arrived at the appointed rendezvous, 
General Cadwalader, accompanied by General 
Dickenson, of Pennsylvania, General Conway 
by Colonel Morgan, of Princeton, it was agreed 
upon by the seconds, that on the word being 
given, the principals might fire in their own 
time, and at discretion, either by an off-hand 
shot, or by taking a deUberate aim. The 
parties having declared themselves ready, the 
word was given to proceed. General Conway 
immediately raised his pistol, and fired with 
great composure, but without effect. General 
Cadwalader was about to do so, when a sudden 
gust of wind occurring, he kept his pistol down 
and remained tranquil. ' Why do you not fire, 
General Cadwalader? exclaimed Conway. 
'Because,' replied General Cadwalader, ' we 
came not here to trifle. Let the gale pass and 
I shall act my part.' ' You shall have a fair 
chance of performing it well,' rejoined Con- 
way, and immediately presented a full front. 
General Cadwalader fired, and his ball enterinoj 
the mouth of his antagonist, he fell directly 
forward on his face. Colonel Morgan running 
to his assistance, found the blood spouting from 
behind his neck, and lifting up the club of his 



JOHN CADWALADER. 129 

hair, saw the ball drop from it. It had passed 
through his head, greatly to the derangement 
of his tongue and teeth, but did not inflict a 
inortal wound. As soon as the blood was 
sufficiently washed away to allow him to speak. 
General Conway, turning to his opponent, said, 
good humouredly, ' You fire, general, with much 
deliberation, and certainly with a great deal of 
effect.' The parties then parted, free from all 
resentment." 

This patriotic and exemplary man died Feb- 
ruary 10th, 1786. In his private life he 
exemplified all the virtues that ennoble the 
character of man. His conduct was not 
marked with the least degree of malevolence 
or party spirit. Those who honestly differed 
from him in opinion, he always treated with 
singular tenderness. In sociability and cheer- 
fulness of temper, honesty and goodness of 
heart, independence of spirit, and warmth of 
friendship, he had no superior. Never did any 
man die more lamented by his friends and 
neighbours ; to his family and relations his 
death was a stroke still more severe. 



THOMAS CONWAY, 

Major-General in the American Army. 

" This gentleman was born in Ireland, and 
went with his parents to France at the age of 
six years, and was, from his youth, educated to 
the profession of arms. He had obtained con- 
siderable reputation as a military officer, and 
as a man of sound understanding and judgment. 
He arrived from France with ample recom- 
mendations, and Congress appointed him a 
brigadier-general in May, 1777. He soon be- 
came conspicuously inimical to General Wash- 
ington, and sought occasions to traduce his 
character. In this he found support from a 
faction in Congress, who were desirous that 
ike commander-in-chief should be superseded. 
The Cono;ress not lono; after elected General 
Conway to the office of inspector-general to 
our army, with the rank of Major-general, 
though he had insulted the commander-in-chief, 
and justified himself in doing so. This gave 
umbrage to the brigadiers over whom he was 
promoted, and they remonstrated to Congress 
against the proceeding, as implicating their 
130 



THOMAS CONWAY. 131 

Honour and character. Conway, now smarting 
under the imputation of having instigated a 
hostile faction against the ilkistrious Washing- 
ton, and being extremely unpopular among the 
officers in general, and finding his situation did 
not accord with his feelings and views, resigned 
his commission, without having commenced 
the duties of inspector. He was believed to 
be an unprincipled intriguer, and after his 
resignation, his calumny and detraction of the 
commander-in-chief, and the army generally, 
were exercised with unrestrained virulence and 
outrage. 

No man was more zealously engaged in the 
scheme of elevating General Gates to the station 
of commander-in-chief. His vile insinuations 
and direct assertions in the public newspapers, 
and in private conversations, relative to the 
incapacity of Washington k) conduct the op- 
erations of the army, received countenance 
from several members of Congress, who were 
induced to declare their want of confidence in 
him, and the affair assumed an aspect threat- 
ening the most disastrous consequences. 
Conway maintained a correspondence with 
General Gates on the subject, and in one of 
his letters he thus expresses himself : " Heaven 



132 HEROP.S OF THfi REVOLUTION. 

has been determined to save your country, or 
a weak general and bad counsellors would have 
ruined it." He was himself at that time one of 
the counsellors against whom he so basely in- 
veighs. Envy and malice ever are attendant 
on exalted genius and merit. But the delusion 
was of short continuance ; the name of Wash- 
ington proved unassailable, and the base in- 
trigue of Conway recoiled with bitterness on 
his own head. 

General Cadwalader, of Pennsylvania, in- 
dignant at the attempt to vilify the character 
of Washington, resolved to avenge himself on 
the aggressor in personal combat. The par- 
ticulars of this meeting are given in the biogra- 
phy of General Cadwalader. General Conway, 
conceiving his wound to be mortal, and be- 
lieving death to be near, acted honourably in 
addressing to Gei^ral Washington, whom he 
had perfidiously slandered, the following letter 
of apology : 

« Philadelphia, Feb. 23, 1778. 

" Sir, — ^I find myself just able to hold my 
pen during a few minutes, and take this op- 
portunity of expressing my sincere grief for 
having done, written, or said any thing dis- 
agreeable to your excellency. My career will 



THOMAS CONWAY. 133 

soon be over, therefore, jastice and truth 
prompt me to declare my last sentiments. 
You are, in my eyes, the great and good man. 
May you long enjoy the love, esteem, and 
veneration of these states, whose liberties you 
have asserted by your virtues. 

I am, with the greatest respect, 
Your Excellency's 

Most obedient and humble servant, 
THS. CONWAY « 



l^ 



, WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE, 

Colonel-Commandant of the State Cavalry of North-Carolina. 

Colonel Davie was born in the village oi 
Egremont, in England, on the 20th of June, 
1759. His father, visiting South Carolina soon 
after the peace of 1763, brought vi^ith him this 
son; and returning to England, confided him 
to the Rev. William Richardson, his maternal 
uncle : who becoming much attached to his 
nephew, not only took charge of his education, 
but adopted him as his son and heir. At the 
proper age, William was sent to an academy 
in North Carolina ; from whence he was, 
after a few years, removed to the college of 
Nassau-Hall, in Princeton, New Jersey, then 
becoming the resort of most of the southern 
youth, under the auspices of the learned and 
respectable Dr. Witherspoon. Here he 
finished his education, graduating in the 
autumn of 1776, a year memorable in our 
military as well as civil annals. 

Returning home, young Davie found himself 
shut out for a time from the army, as the 
commissions for the troops just levied had been 
134 



WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE. 135 

issued. He went to Salisbury, where he com- 
menced the study of law. The war con- 
tinuing, contrary to the expectations which 
generally, prevailed when it began, Davie could 
no longer resist the wish to plant himself 
among the defenders of his country. Inducing 
a worthy and popular friend, rather too old 
for military service, to raise a troop of dra- 
goons, as the readiest mode of accomplishing 
his object, Davie obtained a lieutenancy in 
this troop. Without delay the captain joined 
the southern army, and soon afterward return- 
ed home on a furlough. The command of 
the troop devolving on Lieutenant Davie, it 
was, at his request, annexed to the legion of 
Count Pulaski, where Captain Davie continued, 
until promoted by Major-General Lincoln to 
the station of brigade-major of cavalry. In 
this office Davie served until the affair at Stono, 
devoting his leisure to the acquirement of 
professional knowledge, and rising fast in the 
esteem of the general and army. When 
Lincoln attempted to dislodge Lieutenant- 
Colonel Maitland from his entrenched camp on 
the Stono, Davie received a severe wound, and 
was removed from camp to the hospital in 



136 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Charleston, where he was confined five 
months. 

Soon after his recovery, he was empowered 
by the government of North Carolina to raise 
a small legionary corps, consisting of one troop 
of dragoons and two companies of mounted 
infantry ; at the head of which he was placed 
with the rank of major. 

Quickly succeeding in completing his corps, 
in whose equipment he expended the last 
remaining shilling of an estate bequeathed to 
him by his uncle, he took the field, and was 
sedulously engaged in protecting the country 
between Charlotte and Camden from the 
enemy's predatory excursions. On the fatal 
19th of August, he was hastening with his 
corps to join the army, when he met our dis- 
persed and flying troops. He nevertheless 
continued to advance toward the conqueror; 
and by his prudence, zeal, and vigilance, saved 
a few of our wagons, and many of our strag- 
glers. Acquainted with the movement of 
Sumpter, and justly apprehending that he 
would be destroyed unless speedily advised of 
the defeat of Gates, he despatched imme- 
diately a courier to that officer, communicating 
what had happened, performing, in the midst 



WILLIAM KICHAEDSON DAVIE. 137 

of distress and confusion, the part of an ex- 
perienced captain. 

So much was his conduct respected by the 
ECovernment of North Carolina, that he was in 
the course of September promoted to the rank 
of colonel commandant ©f the cavalry of the 
state. 

At the two gloomiest epochs of the southern 
war, soon after the fall of Charleston and the 
overthrow of Gates, it was the good fortune 
of Colonel Davie to be the first to shed a gleam 
through the surrounding darkness, and give 
hope to the country by the brilliancy of his 
exploits. In one instance, without loss or in- 
jury on his part, he entirely destroyed an 
escort of provisions, taking forty prisoners, 
with their horses and arms. In the other, 
under the immediate eye of a large British 
force, which was actually beating to arms to 
attack him, he routed a party stronger than his 
own, killing and wounding sixty of the enemy, 
and carrying off with him ninety-six horses 
and one hundred and twenty stand of arms. 

When Lord Cornwallis entered Charlotte, a 

small village in North Carolina, Colonel Davie, 

at the head of his detachment, threw himself 

in his front, determined to give him a specimen 

12* 



138 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

of the firmness and gallantry with which the 
inhabitants of the place were prepared to dis- 
pute with his lordship their native soil. 

Colonel Tarlton's legion formed the British 
van, led by Major Hanger, the commander 
himself being confined by sickness. When 
that celebrated corps had advanced near to the 
centre of the village, where the Americans 
were posted, Davie poured into it so destruc- 
tive a fire, that it immediately wheeled and 
retired in disorder. Being rallied on the 
commons, and again led on to the charge, it 
received on the same spot another fire with 
similar effect. 

Lord Coinwallis witnessing the confusion 
thus produced among his choicest troops, rode 
up in person, and in a tone of dissatisfaction 
upbraided the legion with unsoldierly conduct, 
reminding it of its former exploits and reputa- 
tion. 

Pressed on his flanks by the British infantry, 
Colonel Davie had now fallen back to a new 
and well selected position. To dislodge him 
from this, the legion cavalry advanced on him 
a third time, in rapid charge, in full view 
of their commander-in-chief, but in vain. 
Another fire from the American marksmen 



WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE. 139 

killed several of their officers, wounded Major 
Hanger, and repulsed them again with increased 
confusion. 

The main body of the British being now 
within musket shot, the American leader 
abandoned the contest. 

It was by strokes like these that he seriously 
crippled and intimidated his enemy, acquired 
an elevated standing in the estimation of his 
friends, and served very essentially the interest 
of freedom. 

In this station he was found by General 
Greene, on assuming the command of the 
southern army ; whose attention had been oc- 
cupied from his entrance into North Carolina, 
in remedying the disorder in the quarter-master 
and commissary departments. To the first, 
Carrington had been called ; and Davie was 
now induced to take upon himself the last, 
much as he preferred the station he then 
possessed. At the head of this department. 
Colonel Davie remained throughout the trying 
campaign which followed, contributing greatly 
by his talents, his zeal, his local knowledge, 
and his influence, to the maintenance of the 
difficult and successful operations which fol- 
lowed. While before Ninety-Six, Greene, 



140 HEROES OF THE P.EVOLUTION. 

foreseeing: the difficulties ao;ain to be encoun- 
tered in consequence of the accession of force 
to the enemy by the arrival of three regiments 
from Ireland, determined to send a confidential 
officer to the legislature of North Carolina, 
then in session, to represent to them his relative 
condition, and to urge their adoption of effectual 
measures without delay, for the collection of 
magazines of provisions and the reinforcement 
of the army. Colonel Davie was selected by 
Greene for this important mission, and immedi- 
ately repaired to the seat of government, where 
he ably and faithfully exerted himself to give 
effect to the views of his general. 

The effect of the capture of Cornwallis as- 
suring the quick return of peace. Colonel 
Davie returned home, and resumed the profes- 
sion with the practice of the law in the town 
of Halifax, on the Roanoke. 

He was afterward governor of North Caro- 
lina, and one of our ambassadors to France at 
a very portentous conjuncture. 

The war in the south was ennobled by great 
and signal instances of individual and parti zan 
valour and enterprise. Scarcely do the most 
high drawn heroes of fiction surpass, in their 
darings and extraordinary achievements, many 



WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE. HI 

of the real ones of Pickens, Marion, Sumpter, 
and Davie, who figured in the southern states 
during the conflict of the revolution. 

Colonel Davie, although younger by several 
years, possessed talents of a higher order, and 
was much more accomplished in education and 
manners, than either of his three competitors 
for fame. For the comeliness of his person, 
his martial air, his excellence in horsemanship, 
and his consummate powers of field eloquence, 
he had scarcely an equal in the armies of his 
country. But his chief excellence lay in the 
magnanimity and generosity of his soul, his 
daring courage, his vigilance and address, and 
his unrelaxing activity and endurance of toil. 
If he was less frequently engaged in actual 
combat than either of his three compeers, it 
was not because he was inferior to either 
of them in enterprise or love of battle. His 
district being more interior, was, at first, less 
frequently invaded by British detachments. 
When, however, Lord Cornwallis ultimately 
advanced into that quarter, his scouts and 
foraging parties found in Colonel Davie and 
his brave associates, as formidable an enemy 
as they had ever encountered. 



CHRISTOPHER GADSDEN, 

Brigadier*G£Nera.l and LieotenantGovernor of Sodtb 
Carolina. 

This venerable patriot of the revolution was 
born in Charleston, about the year 1724. He 
was sent to England by his father, while a 
youth, where he was educated. At the age 
of sixteen he returned to Carolina, and finished 
his education in the counting-house of Mr. 
Lawrence, of Philadelphia. 

General Gadsden had naturally a strong love 
for independence. He was born a republican. 
Under a well ordered government he was a 
good subject, but could not brook the encroach- 
ments of any man, or body of men, to entrench 
on his rights. 

"As early as 1766," says Judge Johnson, 
" there was at least one man in South Carolina 
who foresaw and foretold the views of the 
British government, and explicitly urged his 
adherents to the resolution to resist even to 
death. General Gadsden, it is well known, 
always favoured the most decisive and energetic 
measures. He thought it folly to temporize, 
142 



CHRISTOPHER GADSDEN. 143 

and insisted that cordial reconciliation, on 
honourable terms, was impossible. When 
the news of the repeal of the stamp-act arrived, 
and the whole community was in ecstacy at 
the event, he, on the contrary, received it with 
indignation, and privately convening a party 
of his friends, he harangued them at con- 
siderable length on the folly of relaxing their 
opposition and vigilance, or indulging the 
fallacious hope that Great-Britain would re- 
linquish her designs or pretensions. He drew 
their attention to the preamble of the act, and 
forcibly pressed upon them the absurdity of 
rejoicing at an act that still asserted and main- 
tained the absolute dominion over them. And 
then reviewing all the chances of succeeding 
in a struggle to break the fetters, when again 
imposed upon them, he pressed them to prepare 
their minds for the event. The address was 
received with silent but profound devotion ; 
and with linked hands, the whole party pledged 
themselves to resist ; a pledge that was faith- 
fully redeemed when the hour of trial arrived." 
"In June, 1775, when the Provincial 
Congress determined to raise troops, Gadsden, 
though absent on public duty at Philadelphia, 
was, without his consent or knowledge, elected 



144 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

colonel of the first regiment. For personal 
courage he was inferior to no man. In know- 
ledge of the military art, he had several 
equals, and some superiors ; but from the great 
confidence reposed in his patriotism, and the 
popularity of his name, he was put at the head 
of the new military establishment. He left 
Congress, and repaired to the camp in Carolina, 
declaring that ' wherever his country placed 
him, whether in the civil or military depart- 
ment ; and if in the latter, whether as corporal 
or colonel, he would cheerfully serve to the 
utmost of his ability.' " 

In the next year he was promoted by Con- 
gress to the rank of brigadier-general. He 
commanded at Fort-Johnson, when the fort 
on Sullivan's Island was attacked ; and he was 
prepared to receive the enemy in their progress 
to Charleston. The repulse of the British pre- 
vented his coming into action. Their retreat 
relieved South Carolina from the pressure of 
war for two years. In this period, Gadsdeit 
resigned his military command, but continued 
to serve in the assembly and the privy council, 
and was very active in preparing for and 
endeavouring to repel the successive invasions 
of the state by the British in 1779 and 1780. 



CHRISTOPHER GADSDEN. 145 

He was the friend of every vigorous measure, 
and ahvays ready to undertake the most 
laborious duties, and to put himself in the front 
of danger. 

When Charleston surrendered by capitula- 
tion, he was lieutenant-governor, and paroled 
as such, and honourably kept his engagement. 
For the three months which followed, he was 
undisturbed ; but on the defeat of Gates, in 
August, 1780, the British resolved that he and 
several others, who discovered no disposition 
to return to the condition of British subjects, 
should be sent out of the country. He was 
accordingly taken in his own house by a file 
of soldiers, and put on board a vessel in the 
harbour. He knew not why he was taken up, 
nor what was intended to be done with him, 
but supposed it was introductory to a trial 
for treason or rebellion, as the British gave 
out that the country was completely con- 
quered. 

He was soon joined by twenty-eight com- 
patriots, who were also taken up on the same 
day. 

He drew from his pocket half a dollar, and 
turning to his associates with a cheerful coun- 
tenance, assured them that was all the money 
13 



146 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

he had at his command. The conquerors sent 
him and his companions to St. Augustine, then 
a British garrison. 

On their landing, limits of some extent were 
offered to them, on condition of their renewing 
the parole they had given in Charleston, " to 
do nothing injurious to the British interest." 
When this was tendered to General Gadsden, 
he replied, " That he had already given one, 
and honourably observed it ; that, in violation 
of his rights as a prisoner under a capitulation, 
he had been sent from Charleston, and that, 
therefore, he saw no use in giving a second 
parole." The commanding officer replied, 
^*He would enter into no arguments, but 
demanded an explicit answer whether he 
■ would or would not renew his parole." Gene- 
• ral Gadsden answered with that high-minded 
republican spirit which misfortunes could not 
keep down, " I will not. In God I put my 
trust, and fear no consequences." " Think 
better of it, sir," said the officer • " a second 
refusal will fix your destiny ; a dungeon will 
be your future habitation." "Prepare it 
then," said the inflexible patriot, " I will give 
no parole, so help me God.''* He was instantly 
hurried off to the castle, and there confined for 



CHRISTOPHER GADSDEN. 147 

ten months in a small room, and in a state of 
complete separation from his fellow-prisoners, 
and in total ignorance of the advantages gained 
by his countrymen, but with most ample 
details of their defeats, and particularly of 
the sequestration of his estate with that of the 
other Carolina rebels. 

After Andre's arrest. Colonel Glazier, the 
governor of the castle, sent to advise General 
Gadsden to prepare himself for the worst, 
intimating that as General Washington had 
been assured of retaliation if Andre was 
executed, it was not unlikely that he would 
be the person selected. To this message he 
magnanimously replied, " That he was always 
prepared to die for his country, and that he 
would rather ascend the scaffold than purchase 
with his life the dishonour of his country." 

In the course of 1781, the victories of 
General Greene procured an equivalent for 
the release of all the prisoners belonging to 
South Carolina. Mr. Gadsden was discharged 
from close confinement, and rejoined his 
fellow-prisoners. The reciprocal congratula- 
tions on the change of circumstances, and 
on seeing each other after ten months separa- 
tion, though in the same garrison, may be 



14^ HEROES OP THE REVOLUTION. 

more easily conceived than expressed. They 
were all conveyed by water from St. Augustine 
to Philadelphia, and there delivered. On 
their arrival they were informed, for the first 
time, of the happy turn American affairs had 
taken subsequent to Gates' defeat. General 
Gadsden hastened back to Carolina to aid in 
recovering it from the British. He was elected 
a member of the assembly which met at 
Jacksonborough in 1782. 

General Gadsden continued in the country 
throughout the year 1782, serving as one of 
the governor's council. On the 14th of 
December, 1782, he, with the American army 
and citizens, made their triumphant entry into 
Charleston in the rear of the evacuating 
British. In the first moment of his return, 
after an absence of more than two years, he 
had the pleasure of seeing the British fleet, 
upward of three hundred sail, in the act of 
departing from the port, and the capital, as 
well as the country, restored to its proper 
owners. Mr. Gadsden henceforward devoted 
himself to private pursuits, but occasionally 
served in the assembly, and with unspeakable 
delight in the two state conventions; the one 
for the ratification of the national constitution 



CHRISTOPHER GADSDEN. 149 

in 1788, and the other for revising the state 
constitution in 1790. 

He survived his 81st year, generally en- 
joying good health, and at last died, more 
from the consequences of an accidental fall 
than the weight of disease, or decays of nature. 

His opinions of lawyers were not favourable. 
He considered their pleadings as generally 
tending to obscure what was plain, and to 
make difficulties where there were none ; and 
much more subservient to render their trade 
lucrative than to advance justice. He adhered 
to that clause of Mr. Locke's fundamental 
constitution, which makes it " a base and vile 
thing to plead for money or reward;" and 
wished that the lawyers, when necessary to 
justice, should be provided with salaries at the 
public expense, like the judges, that they 
might be saved from the shame of hiring their 
tongues to the first who offered or gave the 
largest fee. Of physicians he thought very 
little. He considered temperance and exercise 
superior to all their prescriptions, and that in 
most cases they rendered them altogether 
unnecessary. In many things he was particu- 
lar. His passiorfs were strong, and required 
all his religion and philosophy to curb them. 
13* 



150 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

His patriotism was both disinterested and 
ardent. He declined all offices of profit, and 
through life refused to take the compensations 
annexed by law to such offices of trust as were 
conferred on him. His character was im- 
pressed with the hardihood of antiquity ; and 
he possessed an erect, firm, intrepid mind, 
which was well calculated for buffeting with 
revolutionary storms." 



HORATIO GATES, 

Major-General in the American Army. 

General Gates was a native of England, 
and was born in the year 1728. He was 
educated to the military profession, and entered 
the British army at an early age, in the capa- 
city of lieutenant, where he laid the foundation 
of his future military excellence. Without 
purchase he obtained the rank of major. He 
was aid to General Monckton at the capture 
of Martinico, and after the peace of Aix-la- 
Chapelle he was among the first troops which 
landed at Halifax under General Cornwallis. 
He was an officer in the army which accom- 
panied the unfortunate Braddock in the ex- 
pedition against Fort du Quesne, in the year 
1755, and was shot through the body. 

When peace was concluded, he purchased 
an estate in Virginia, where he resided until 
the commencement of the American war, in 
1775. Having evinced his zeal and attach- 
ment to the violated rights of his adopted 
country, and sustaining a high military reputa- 
tion, he was appointed by Congress adjutant- 

151 



152 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

general, with the rank of brigadier, and he 
accompanied General Washington to the 
American camp at Cambridge, in July, 1775, 
where he was employed for some time in a 
subordinate, but highly useful, capacity. 

In June, 1776, Gates was appointed to the 
command of the army of Canada, and on 
reaching Ticonderoga, he still claimed the 
command of it, though it was no longer in 
Canada, and was in the department of General 
Schuyler, a senior officer, who had rendered 
eminent services in that command. On rep- 
resentation to Congress, it was declared not to 
be their intention to place Gates over Schuyler, 
and it was recommended to these officers to 
endeavour to cooperate harmoniously. Gen- 
eral Schuyler was, however, shortly after 
directed by Congress to resume the command 
of the northern department, and General Gates 
withdrew himself from it ; after which he 
repaired to head-quarters, and joined the army 
under General Washington in Jersey. 

Owing to the prevalent dissatisfaction with 
the conduct of General Schuyler in the eva- 
cuation of Ticonderoga, Gates was again di- 
rected to take command. He arrived about the 
21st of August, and continued the exertions 



HORATIO GATES. 153 

to restore the affairs of the department, which 
had been so n uch depressed by the losses 
consequent on the evacuation of Ticonderoga. 
It was fortunate for General Gates that the 
retreat from Ticonderoga had been conducted 
under other auspices than his, and that he took 
the command when the indefatigable, but 
unrequited labours of Schuyler, and the courage 
of Stiirk and his mountaineers, had already 
ensured the ultimate defeat of Burgoyne. 

Burgoyne, after crossing the Hudson, advan- 
ced along its side, an 1 encamped on the height, 
about two miles from Gates' camp, which was 
three miles above Stillwater. This movement 
was the subject of much discussion. Some 
charged it on the impetuosity of the general, 
and alleged that it was premature, before he 
was sure of aid from the ro3^al forces posted 
in New York, but he pleaded the peremptory 
orders of his superiors. The rapid advance of 
Burgoyne, and especially his passage of the 
North River, added much to the impracticabil- 
ity of his future retreat, and made the ruin of 
his army in a great degree unavoidable. The 
Americans, elated with their successes at 
Bennington and Fort Schuyler, thought no 
more of retreating, but came out to meet the 



154 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

advancing British, and engaged them with 
firmness and resolution. 

The attack began a little before mid-day, 
September 19th, between the scouting parties 
of the two armies. The commanders of both 
sides supported and reinforced their respec- 
tive parties. The conflict, though severe, was 
only partial for an hour and a half; but after 
a short pause, it became general, and continued 
for three hours without any intermission. A 
constant blaze of fire was kept up, and both 
armies seemed determined on death or victory. 
The Americans and British alternately drove, 
and were driven by each other. The British 
artillery fell into our possession at every 
charge, but we could neither turn the pieces 
upon the enemy nor bring them off, so sudden 
were the alternate advantages. It was a 
gallant conflict, in which death, by familiarity, 
lost his terrors ; and such was the order of the 
Americans, that, as General Wilkinson states, 
the wounded men, after having their wounds 
dressed, in many instances returned again into 
the battle. Men, and particularly officers, 
dropped every moment, and on every side. 
Several of the Americans placed themselves 
on high trees, and as often as they could dis- 



HORATIO GATES. 155 

tinguish an officer's uniform, took him off by 
deliberately aiming at his person. Few actions 
have been characterized by more obstinacy 
in attack or defence. The British repeatedly 
tried their bayonets, but without their usual 
success in the use of that weapon. 

The British lost upwards of five hundred 
men, including their killed, wounded, and 
prisoners. The Americans, inclusive of the 
missing, lost three hundred and nineteen. 
Thirty-six out of forty-eight British artillerists 
were killed or wounded. The 62d British 
regiment, which was five hundred strong 
when it left Canada, was reduced to sixty men, 
and four or five officers. In this eneao-ement 
General Gates, assisted by Generals Lincoln 
and Arnold, commanded the American army, 
and General Burgoyne was at the head of his 
army, and Generals Phillips, Reidesel, and 
Frazer, with their respective commands, were 
actively engaged. 

This battle was fought by the general con- 
cert and zealous cooperation of the corps 
engaged, and was sustained more by individual 
courage than military discipline. General 
Arnold, who afterwards traitorously deserted 
his country, behaved with the most undaunted 



156 HEnOES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

courage, leading on the troops, and encouraging 
them by his personal efforts and daring ex- 
posure. The gallant Colonel Morgan obtained 
immortal honour on this day. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Brooks, with the eighth Massachusetts' 
regiment, remained in the field till about eleven 
o'clock, and was the last who retired. Major 
Hull commanded a detachment of three hun- 
dred men, who fought with such signal ardour 
that more than half of them were killed. 
The whole number of Americans engaged in 
this action was about two thousand five hun- 
dred \ the remainder of the army, from its 
unfavourable situation, took little or no part ia 
the action. 

Each army claimed the victory, and each 
believed himself to have beaten, with only 
part of its force, nearly the whole of the 
enemy. The advantage, however, was de- 
cidedly in favour of the Americans. In every 
quarter they had been the assailants, and after 
an encounter of several hours they had not lost 
a single inch of ground. 

General Gates, whose numbers increased 
daily, remained on his old ground. Hs right, 
which extended to the river, had been rendered 



HORATIO GATES. 157 

unassailable, and he used great industry to 
strengthen his left. 

Both armies retained their position until the 
7th of October ; Burgoyne, in the hope of being 
relieved by Sir Henry Clinton ; and Gates, in 
he confidence of growing stronger every day, 
and of rendering the destruction of his enemy 
more certain. But receiving no further in- 
telligence from Sir Henry, the British general 
determined to make one more trial of strength 
with his adversary. The following account of 
the brilliant affair of the 7th of October, 1777, 
is given in Thacher's Military Journal : — 

*' I am fortunate enough to obtain from our 
officers, a particular account of the glorious 
event of the 7th instant. The advanced parties 
of the two armies came into contact about 
three o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, and imme- 
diately displayed their hostile attitude. The 
Americans soon approached the royal army, 
and each party in defiance awaited the deadly 
blow. The gallant Colonel Morgan, at the 
head of his famous rifle corps, and Major 
Dearborn, leading a detachment of infantry, 
commenced the action, and rushed coura- 
geously on the British grenadiers, commanded 
by Major Ackland ; and the furious attack was 
14 



158 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

most firmly resisted. In all parts of the field 
the conflict became extremely arduous and 
obstinate ; an unconquerable spirit on each side 
disdaining to yield the palm of victory. 
Death appeared to have lost his terrors ; brea- 
ches in the ranks were no sooner made than 
supplied by fresh combatants, awaiting a 
similar fate. At length the Americans press 
forward with renewed strength and ardour, and 
compel the whole British line, commanded by 
Burgoyne himself, to yield to their deadly fire, 
and they retreat in disorder. The German 
troops remain firmly posted at their lines j 
these were now boldly assaulted by Brigadier- 
General Learned, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Brooks, at the head of their respective com- 
mands, with such intrepidity, that the works 
were carried, and their brave commander, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Bre3^man, was slain. The 
Germans were pursued to their encampment, 
which, with all the equipage of the brigade, 
fell into our handsi Colonel Cilley, of Gene- 
ral Poor's brigade, having acquitted himself 
honourably, was seen astride on a brass field- 
piece, exulting in the capture. Major Hull, 
of the Massachusetts line, was among those 
who so bravely stormed the enemy's entrench- 



HORATIO GATES. 159 

ment, and acted a conspicuous part. General 
Arnold, in consequence of a serious misunder- 
standing with General Gates, was not vested 
with any command, by which he was ex- 
ceedingly chagrined and irritated. He en- 
tered the field, however, and his conduct was 
marked with intemperate rashness ; flourishing 
his sword, and animating the troops, he struck 
an officer on the head without cause, and gave 
him a considerable wound. He exposed him- 
self to every danger, and, with a small party 
of riflemen, rushed into the rear olthe enemy, 
where he received a ball which fractured his 
leg, and his horse was killed under him. 
Nightfall put a stop to our brilliant career, 
though the victory was most decisive ; and it 
is with pride and exultation that we recount 
the triumph of American bravery. Besides 
Lieutenant-Colonel Breyman slain, General 
Frazer, one of the most valuable officers in the 
British service, was mortally wounded, and 
survived but a few hours. Frazer was the soul 
of the British army, and |/as just changing the 
disposition of a part of the troops to repel a 
strong impression which the Americans had 
made, and were still making, on the British 
right, when Morgan called together two or 



160' HEROES OF THE KEVOLUTIOJT. 

three of his best marksmen, and pointing to 
Frazer, said, * Do you see that gallant officer? 
that is General Frazer — I respect and honour 
him ; but it is necessary he should die.' This 
was enough. Frazer immediately received 
his mortal wound, and was carried off the 
field. Sir Francis Clark, aid-de-camp to Gene- 
ral Burgoyne, was brought into our camp with 
a mortal wound, and Major Ackland, who 
commanded the British grenadiers, was wound- 
ed through both legs, and is our prisoner. 
Several other officers, and about two hundred 
privates, are prisoners in our hands, with nine 
pieces of cannon, and a considerable supply 
of ammunition, which was much wanted for 
our troops. The loss on our side is supposed 
not to exceed thirty killed, and one hundred 
wounded, in obtaining this signal victory." 

The position of the British army, after the 
action of the 7th, was so dangerous, that an 
immediate and total change of position became 
necessary, and Burgoyne took immediate 
measures to regain his former camp at Sara- 
toga. There he arrived with little molestation 
from his adversary. His provisions being now 
reduced to the supply of a few days, the 
transports of artillery and baggage towards 



HORATIO GATES. 161 

Canada being rendered impracticable by the 
judicious measures of his adversary, the British 
general resolved upon a rapid retreat, merely 
with what the soldiers could carry. On ex- 
amination, however, it was found that they 
were deprived even of this resource, as the 
passes through which their route lay, were so 
strongly guarded, that nothing but artillery 
could clear them. In this desperate situation 
a parley took place, and on the 17th of Octo- 
ber the whole army surrendered to General 
Gates. 

The prize obtained consisted of more than 
five thousand prisoners, forty-two pieces of 
brass ordnance, seven thousand muskets, clo- 
thing for seven thousand men, with a grea 
quantity of tents, and other military stores. 

Soon after the convention was signed, the 
Americans marched into their lines, and were 
kept there until the royal army had deposited 
their arms at the place appointed. The deli- 
cacy with which this business was conducted, 
reflected honour on the American general. 
Nor did the politeness of Gates end here. 
Every circumstance was withheld that could 
constitute a triumph in the American army. 
The captive general was received by his con- 
14* 



162 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

queror with respect and kindness. A number 
of the principal officers of both armies met at 
General Gates' quarters, and for a while 
seemed to forget, in social and convivial plea- 
sures, that they had been enemies. 

General Wilkinson gives the following 
account of the meeting between General Bur- 
goyne and General Gates : 

"General Gates, advised of Biirgoyne's 
approach, met him at the head of his camp, 
Burgoyne in a rich royal uniform, and Gates 
in a plain blue frock. When they had ap- 
proached nearly within sword's length, they 
reined up and halted. I then named the 
gentleman, and General Burgoyne, raising his 
hat most gracefully, said, ' The fortune of war, 
General Gates, has made me your prisoner j' 
to which the conqueror, returning a courtly 
salute, promptly replied, 'I shall always be 
ready to bear testimony that it has not been 
through any fault of your excellency.' " 

The thanks of Congress were voted to Gene- 
ral Gates and his army ; and a medal of gold, 
in commemoration of this great event, was 
ordered to be struck, to be presented to him 
by the president, in the name of the United 
States. 



HORATIO GATES. 163 

It was not long after that the wonderful 
discovery was supposed to be made, that the 
illustrious Washi.igtpn was incompetent to the 
task of conducting the operations of the Ame- 
rican army, and that General Gates, if elevated 
to the chief command, would speedily melior- 
ate the condition of our affairs. There were 
those who imputed to General Gates himself a 
principal agency in the affair, which, how- 
ever, he promptly disavowed. But certain it 
is, that a private correspondence was main- 
tained between him and the intriguing General 
Conway, in which the measures pursued by 
General Washington are criticised and repro- 
bated ) and in one of Conway's letters, he 
pointedly ascribes our want of success to a 
weak general and bad counsellors. General 
Gates, on finding that General Washington 
had been apprised of the correspondence, 
addressed his excellency, requesting that he 
would disclose the name of his informant ; and 
in violation of the rules of decorum, he 
addressed the commander-in-chief on a subject 
of extreme delicacy, in an open letter trans- 
mitted to the president of Congress. General 
Washington, however, did not hesitate to 
disclose the name and circumstances which 



164« HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

brought the affair to light. General Gates, 
then, with inexcusable disingenuousness, at- 
tempted to vindicate the conduct of Conway, 
and to deny that the letter contained the repre- 
hensible expressions in question, but utterly 
refused to produce the orio;inal letter. This 
subject, however, was so ably and candidly 
discussed by General Washington, as to cover 
his adversary with shame and humiliation. It 
was thought inexcusable in Gates, that he ne- 
glected to communicate to the commander-in- 
chief an account of so important an event as 
the capture of the British army at Saratoga, 
but left his excellency to obtain the information 
by common report. 

Dr. Thacher, in his Military Journal, relates 
the following anecdote : " Mr. T , an en- 
sign in our regiment, has, for some time, dis- 
covered symptoms of mental derangement. 
Yesterday he intruded himself at General Gates' 
head-quarters, and after some amusing conversa- 
tion, he put himself in the attitude of devotion, 
and prayed that God would pardon General 
Gates for endeavouring to supersede that god- 
like man, Washington. The general appeared 
to be much disturbed, and directed Mr. Pierce, 
his aid-de-camp, to take him away." 



HORATIO GATES. 165 

On the 13th of June, 1780, General Gates 
was appointed* to the chief command of the 
southern army. Rich in fame from the fields 
of Saratoga, he hastened to execute the hio-h 
and important trust ; and the arrival of an 
officer so exalted in reputation, had an imme- 
diate and happy effect on the spirits of the 
soldiery and the hopes of the people. It was 
anticipated that he who had humbled Great 
Britain on the heights of the Hudson, and 
liberated New York from a formidable invasion, 
would prove no less successful in the south, 
and become the deliverer of Carolina and 
Georgia from lawless rapine and military rule. 
But anticipations were vain, and the best 
founded hopes were blighted ! In the first and 
only encounter which he had with Lord Corn- 
wallis, at Camden, August 15th, he suffered a 
total defeat, and was obliged to fly from the 
enemy for personal safety.* 

Proudly calculating on the weight of his 
name, and too confident in his own superiority, 
he slighted the counsel which he ought to have 
respected, and hurrying impetuously into the 

* When the appointment of General Gates to the chief 
commaiid of tlie southern army was announced, General 
Lee vcmaiktd, that "/as norihern laurels would soon be 
exchanfred for soulhern uUIoils." 



166 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

field of battle, his tide of popularity ebbed as 
fast at Camden as it had flowed at Saratoo-a. 

o 

It would be great injustice, however, to 
attribute the misfortune altogether to the com- 
mander, under his peculiar circumstances. A 
large proportion of his force consisted of raw 
militia, who were panic-struck, and fled at the 
first fire ; their rout was absolute and irretriev- 
able. In vain did Gates attempt to rally them. 
That their speed might be the greater, they 
threw away their arms and accoutrements, and 
dashed into the woods and swamps for safety. 
A rout more perfectly wild and disorderly, or 
marked with greater consternation and dismay, 
was never witnessed. Honour, manhood, 
country, home, every recollection sacred to 
the feelings of the soldier and the soul of the 
brave, was merged in an ignominious love of life. 

But from the moment General Gates assumed 
the command in the south, his former judgment 
and fortune seemed to forsake him. He was 
anxious to come to action immediately, and to 
terminate the war by a few bold and energetic 
measures ; and two days after his arrival in 
camp, he began his march to meet the enemy, 
without properly estimating his force. 

The active spirits of the place being roused 



HORATIO GATES. 167 

and encouraged by the presence of a con- 
siderable army, and daily flocking to the 
standard of their country, General Gates, by a 
delay of action, had much to gain in point of 
numbers. To the prospects of the enemy, on 
the contrary, delay would have been ruinous. 
To them there was no alternative but immediate 
battle and victory, or immediate retreat. Such, 
however, was the nature of the country, and 
the distance and relative position 6f the two 
armies, that to compel the Americans to action 
was impossible. The imprudence of the 
American general in hazarding an engagement 
at this time, is further manifested by the fact, 
that in troops on whose firmness he could safely 
rely, he was greatly inferior to his foe, they 
amounting to sixteen hundred veteran and 
highly disciplined regulars, and he having less 
than a thousand continentals. 

General Gates having retreated to Salisbury, 
and thence to Hillsborough, he there succeeded 
in collecting around him the fragments of an 
army. Being soon after reinforced by several 
small bodies of regulars and militia, he again 
advanced towards the south, and took post in 
Charlotte. Here he continued in command 
until the 5th day of October, fifty days after 



168 HEROCS OF TIIK r.KVOLUTION. 

his defeat at Camden, when Congress passed a 
resolution requiring the conrmiander-in-chief to 
order a court of inquiry on his conduct, as 
commander of the southern army, and to ap- 
point some other oflicer to that command. 
The inquiry resulted in his acquittal ; and it 
was the general opinion that he was not treated 
by Congress with that delicacy, or indeed 
gratitude, that was due to an officer of his 
acknowledged merit. HeJ however, received 
the order of his supersedure and suspension, 
and resigned the command to General Greene 
with becoming dignity, as is manifested, much 
to his credit, in the following order: 

^'■Head-quarters, Charlotte^ 'M Dec, 1780. 

Parole, Springfield — countersign, Greene. 

"The honourable Major-General Greene, 
who arrived yesterday afternoon in Charlotte, 
being appointed by his excellency General 
Washington, with the approbation of the 
honourable Congress, to the command of the 
southern army, all orders will, for the future, 
issue from him, and all reports are to be made 
to him. 

" General Gates returns his sincere and 
grateful thanks to the southern army for their 
perseverance, fortitude, and patient endurance 



HORATIO GATES. 169; 

of all the hardships and sufferings they have 
undergone while under his connmand. He 
anxiously hopes their nnisfortunes will cease, 
therewith, and that victory, and the glorious 
advantages of it, may be the future portion of 
the southern army." 

General Greene had always been, and con- 
tinued to be, the firm advocate of the reputa- 
tion of General Gates, particularly if he heard 
it assailed with asperity • and still believed and 
asserted, that if there was any mistake in the 
conduct of Gates, it was in hazarding an action 
at all against such superior force ; and w^hen 
informed of his appointment to supersede him, 
declared his confidence in his military talents, 
and his willingness " to serve under him." 

General Gates was reinstated in his military 
command in the main army, in 1782; but the 
great scenes of war were now passed, and he 
could only participate in the painful scene of 
a final separation. 

In the midst of his misfortune, General Gates 
was called to mourn the afflictive dispensation 
of Providence, in the death of his only son. 
Major Garden, in his excellent publication, has 
recorded the following affecting anecdote, 

which he received from Dr. William Eeed : 
15 



170 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

" Having occasion to call on General Gates, 
relative to the business of the department under 
my immediate charge, I found him traversing 
the apartment which he occupied, under the 
influence of high excitement ; his agitation 
was excessive — every feature of his counte- 
nance, every gesture betrayed it. Official des- 
patches, informing him that he was superseded, 
and that the command of the southern army 
had been transferred to General Greene, had 
just 'been received and perused by him. His 
countenance, however, betrayed no expression 
of irritation or resentment 5 it was sensibility 
alone that caused his emotion. An open letter, 
which he held in his hand, was often raised to 
his lips, and kissed with devotion, while the 
exclamation repeatedly escaped them — * Great 
man ! Noble, generous procedure !' When 
the tumult of his mind had subsided, and his 
thoughts found utterance, he, with strong ex- 
pression of feeling, exclaimed, * I have received 
this day a communication from the commander- 
in-chief, which has conveyed more consolation 
to my bosom, more ineffable delight to my 
heart, than I had believed it possible for it ever 
to have felt again. With affectionate tender- 
ness he sympathizes with me in my domestic 



HORATIO GATES. 171 

misfortunes, and condoles with me on the loss 
I have sustained by the recent death of an only 
son ; and then with peculiar delicacy, lament- 
ing my misfortune in battle, assures me that his 
confidence in my zeal and capacity is so little 
impaired, that the command of the right wing 
of the' army will be bestowed on me so soon as 
I can make it convenient to join him.' " 

After the peace he retired to his farm in 
Berkley county, Virginia, where he remained 
until the year 1790, when he went to reside in 
New York, having first emancipated his slaves, 
and made a pecuniary provision for such as 
were not able to provide for themselves. 
Some of them would not leave him, but con- 
tinued in his family. 

On his arrival at New York, the freedom of 
the city was presented to him. In 1800 he 
accepted a seat in the leg'slature, but he re- 
tained it no longer than he conceived his 
services might be useful to the cause of liberty, 
which he never abandoned. 

His political opinions did not separate him 
from many respectable citizens, whose views 
differed widely from his own. He had a 
handsome person, and was gentlemanly in his 
manners, remarkably courteous to all, and gave 



172 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

indisputable marks of a social, amiable, and 
benevolent disposition. A few weeks before 
his death he closed a letter to a friend in the 
following words : — " I am very weak, and 
have evident signs of an approaching dissolu- 
tion. But I have lived long enough, since I 
have to see a mighty people animated with a 
spirit to be free, and governed by transcendent 
abilities and honour." He died without pos- 
terity, at his abode near New York, on the 10th 
day of April, 1806, aged seventy-eight years. 



NATHAN HALE, 

Captain in the American Army. 

After the unfortunate engagement on Long 
Island, General Washington called a council 
of war, who determined on an immediate re- 
treat to New York. The intention was pru- 
dently concealed from the army, who knew 
not whither they were going, but imagined it 
was to attack the enemy. The field artillery, 
tents, baggage, and about nine thousand men, 
were conveyed to the city of New York, over 
the East River, more than a mile wide, in less 
than thirteen hours, and without the knowledgre 
of the British, though not six hundred yards 
distant. Providence in a remarkable manner 
favoured the retreating army. The wind, 
which seemed to prevent the troops getting 
over at the appointed hour, afterward shifted 
to their wishes. 

Perhaps the fate of America was never sus- 
pended by a more brittle thread than previously 
to this memorable retreat. A spectacle is here 
presented of an army destined for the defence 
of a great continent, driven to the narrow 
15* 173 



174 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

borders of an island, with a victorious army 
double its number in front, with navigable 
waters in its rear; constantly liable to have its 
communication cut off by the enemy's navy, 
and every moment exposed to an attack. The 
presence of mind which animated the com- 
mander-in-chief in this critical situation, the 
prudence with which all the necessary measures 
were executed, redounded as much or more to 
his honour than the most brilliant victories. 
An army, to which America looked for safety, 
preserved ; a general who was considered as 
an host himself, saved for the future necessities 
of his country. Had not, however, the cir- 
cumstances of the night, of the wind and 
weather, been favourable, the plan, however 
well concerted, must have been defeated. To 
a good Providence, therefore, are the people 
of America indebted for the complete success 
of an enterprise so important in its consequences. 
This retreat left the British in complete 
possession of Long Island. What would be 
their future operations remained uncertain. 
To obtain information of their situation, their 
strength, and future movements, was of high 
importance. For this purpose. General Wash- 
ington applied to Colonel Knowlton, who 



NATHAN HALE. 175 

commanded a regiment of light infantry, 
which formed the rear of the American army, 
and desired him to adopt some mode of gaining 
the necessary information. Colonel Knowlton 
communicated this request to Captain Nathan 
Hale, of Connecticut, who was a captain in 
his regiment. 

This young officer, animated by a sense of 
duty, and considering that an opportunity pre- 
sented itself by which he might be useful to 
his country, at once offered himself a volunteer 
for this hazardous service. He passed in dis- 
guise to Long Island, and examined every part 
of the British army, and obtained the best 
possible information respecting their situation 
and future operations. 

In his attempt to return, he was apprehended, 
carried before Sir William Howe, and the 
proof of his object was so clear, that he 
frankly acknowledged who he was, and what 
were his views. Sir William Howe at once 
gave an order to have him executed the next 
morning. 

This order was accordingly executed in the 
most unfeeling manner, and by as great a 
savage as ever disgraced humanity. A clergy- 
man, whose attendance he desired, was refused 



176 HEROES OF THE P.EVOLUTION. 

him J a Bible, for a few moments' devotion, 
was not procured, although he wished it. 
Letters which, on the morning of his execution, 
he wrote to his mother and other friends, were 
destroyed ; and this very extraordinary reason 
given by the provost-martial, " That the rebels 
should not know they had a man in their army 
who could die with so much firmness. ^^ 

Unknown to all around him, without a single 
friend to offer him the least consolation, thus 
fell as amiable and as worthy a young man as 
America could boast, with this as his dying 
observation, that " he only lamented that he had 
hut one life to lose for his country.''^ 

Although the manner of this execution will 
ever be abhorred by every friend to humanity 
and religion, yet there cannot be a question but 
that the sentence was conformable to the rules 
of war, and the practice of nations in similar 
cases. 

It is, however, but justice to the character 
of Captain Hale to observe, that his motives 
for engaging in this service were entirely 
different from those which generally influence 
others in similar circumstances. Neither ex- 
pectation of promotion, nor pecuniary reward, 
induced him to this attempt. A sense of duty, 



NATHAN HALE. 177 

a hope that, he might in this way be useful to 
his country, and an opinion which he had 
adopted, that every kind of service necessary 
to the genera] good became honourable by being 
necessary, were the great motives which in- 
duced him to engage in an enterprise by which 
his connexions lost a most amiable friend, and 
his country one of its most promising supporters. 

The fate of this unfortunate young man 
excites the most interesting reflections. To see 
such a character, in the flower of youth, 
cheerfully treading in the most hazardous paths, 
inflaenced by the purest intentions, and only 
emulous to do good to his country, without the 
imputation of a crime, fall a victim to policy, 
must have been wounding to the feelings even 
of his enemies. 

Should a comparison be drawn between 
Major Andre and Captain Hale, injustice would 
be done to the latter, should he not be placed 
on an equal ground with the former. While 
almost every historian of the American revo- 
lution has celebrated the virtues, and lamented 
the fate of Andre, Hale has remained unnoticed, 
and it is scarcely known such a character 
existed. 

To the memory of Andre, his country has 



178 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

erected the most magnificent monuments, and 
bestowed on his family the highest honours 
and most liberal rewards. To the memory of 
Hale, not a stone has been erected, nor an 
inscription to preserve his ashes from insult ! 



ISAAC HAYNE, 

Colonel in the American Army. 

"This gentleman had been a distinguished 
and very active officer in the American service, 
previous to the subjugation of Charleston. 
When this event took place, he found himself 
called to a separation from his family, a dere- 
liction of his property, and submission to the 
conqueror. In this situation he thought it his 
duty to become a voluntary prisoner, and take 
his parole. On surrendering himself, he offered 
to engage and stand bound on the principles of 
honour, to do nothing prejudicial to the British 
interest until he was exchanged ) but his abilities 
and services were of such consideration to his 
country, that he was refused a parole, and told 
he must become a British subject, or submit to 
close confinement. 

*' His family was then in a distant part of 
the country, and in great distress by sickness, 
and from the ravages of the royalists in their 
neighbourhood. Thus he seemed impelled to 
acknowledge himself the subject of a govern- 
ment he had relinquished from the purest 

179 



180 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

principles, or renounce his tenderest connexions, 
and leave them without a possibility of his 
assistance, and at a moment when he hourly 
expected to hear of the death of an affectionate 
wife, ill of the small-pox. 

*^In this state of anxiety, he subscribed a 
declaration of his allegiance to the king of 
Great Britain, with this express exception, that 
he should never be required to take arms 
against his country. Notwithstanding this, he 
was soon and repeatedly called upon to arm in 
support of a government he detested, or to 
submit to the severest punishment. Brigadier- 
General Patterson, commandant of the garrison, 
and the intendant of the British police, a Mr. 
Simpson, had both assured Colonel Hayne that 
no such thing would be required ; and added, 
* that when the royal army could not defend a 
country without the aid of its inhabitants, it 
would be time to quit it.' 

" Colonel Hayne considered a requisition to 
act in British service, after assurances that this 
would never be required, as a breach of con- 
tract, and a release in the eye of conscience, 
from any obligation on his part. Accordingly 
he took the first opportunity of resuming his 
arms as an American, assumed the command 



ISAAC HAYNE. 181 

of his own regiment; and all fond of their 
former commander, Colonel Hayne marched 
with a defensible body to the relief of his 
countrymen, then endeavouring to drive the 
British partizans, and keep them within the 
environs of Charleston. He very unfortunately, 
in a short time, fell into the hands of a strong 
British party, sent out for the recovery of a 
favourite officer, who had left the American 
cause, and become a devotee to the British 
government. 

" As soon as Colonel Hayne was captured, 
he was closely imprisoned. This was on the 
twenty-sixth of July. He was notified the 
same day, that a court of officers would as- 
semble the next day, to determine in what 
point of view he ought to be considered. On 
the twenty-ninth, he was informed that in 
consequence of a court of inquiry held the 
day before, Lord Rawdon and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Balfour had resolved upon his execution 
within two days. 

"His astonishment at these summary and 
illegal proceedings can scarcely be conceived. 
He wrote Lord Rawdon that he had no intima- 
tion of any thing more than a court of inquiry, 
to determine whether he should be considered 
16 



182 HEROES OF THE HEVOLUTION. 

as an American or a British subject : if the 
first, he ought to be set at liberty on parole ; if 
the last, he claimed a legal trial. He assured 
his lordship, that on a trial he had many things 
to urge in his defence ; reasons that would be 
weighty in a court of equity ; and concluded 
his letter with observing, ' If, sir, I am refused 
this favour, which I cannot conceive from your 
justice or humanity, I earnestly entreat that 
my execution may be deferred, that I may at 
least take a last farewell of my children, and 
prepare for the solemn change.' 

" But his death predetermined, his enemies 
were deaf to the voice of compassion. The 
execution of his sentence was hastened, though 
the reputation and merits of this gentleman 
were such, that the whole city was zealous for 
his preservation. Not only the inhabitants in 
opposition to the British government, but even 
Lieutenant-Governor Bull, at the head of the 
royalists, interceded for his life. The principal 
ladies of Charleston endeavoured, by their 
compassionate interference, to arrest or in- 
fluence the relentless hand of power. They 
drew up and presented to Lord Bawdon, a 
delicate and pathetic petition in his behalf. 
His near relations, and his children, who had 



ISAAC HAYNE. 183 

just performed the funeral rites over the grave 
of a tender mother, appeared on their bended 
knees, to implore the life of their father. But 
in spite of the supplications of children and 
friends, strangers and foes, the flinty heart of 
Lord Rawdon remained untouched, amidst 
these scenes of sensibility and distress. No 
melioration of the sentence could be obtained ; 
and this affectionate father took a final leave 
of his children in a manner that pierced the 
souls of the beholders. To the eldest of them, 
a youth of but thirteen years of age, he de- 
livered a transcript of his case, directed him 
to convey it to Congress, and ordered him to 
see that his father's remains were deposited in 
the tomb of his ancestors. 

"Pinioned like a criminal, this worthy 
citizen walked with composure through crowds 
of admiring spectators, with the dignity of the 
philosopher, and the intrepidity of the Chris- 
tian. He suffered as a hero, and was hanged 
as a felon, amidst the tears of the multitude, 
and the curses of thousands, who execrated the 
perpetrators of this cruel deed." 



CHARLES LEE, 

Major General in the American Army. 

General Lee was an original genius, pos- 
sessing the most brilliant talents, great military 
prowess, and extensive intelligence and know- 
ledge of the world. He was born in Wales, 
his family springing from the same parent stock 
with the Earl of Leicester. 

He may be properly called a child of Mars, 
for he was an officer when but eleven years old. 
His favourite study was the science of war, 
and his warmest wish was to become dis- 
tinguished in it ; but though possessed of a 
military spirit, he was ardent in the pursuit of 
general knowledge. He acquired a competent 
skill in Greek and Latin, while his fondness for 
travelling made him acquainted with the Italian, 
Spanish, German, and French languages. 

In 1756, he came to America, captain of a 
company of grenadiers, and was present at the 
defeat of General Abercombie at Ticonderoga, 
where he received a severe wound. In 1762, 
he bore a colonel's commission, and served 
under Burgoyne in Portugal, where he greatly 
184. 



CHARLES LEE. 185 

distinguished himself, and received the strongest 
recommendations for his gallantry ; but his 
early attachment to the American colonies, 
evinced in his writings against the oppressive 
acts of parliament, lost him the favour of the 
ministry. Despairing of promotion, and des- 
pising a life of inactivity, he left his native 
soil, and entered into the service of his Polish 
majesty, as one of his aids, with the rank of 
major-general. 

His rambling disposition led him to travel all 
over Europe, during the years of 1771, 1772, 
and part of 1773, and his warmth of temper 
drew him into several rencounters, among 
which was an affair of honour with an officer 
in Italy. The contest was begun with swords, 
when the general lost two of his fingers. Re- 
course was then had to pistols. His adversary 
was slain, and he was obliged to flee from the 
country, in order that he might avoid the un- 
pleasant circumstances which might result from 
this unhappy circumstance. 

General Lee appeared to be influenced by 
an innate principle of republicanism; an at- 
tachment to these principles was implanted in 
the constitution of his mind, and he espoused 



16 



186 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

the cause of America as a champion of her 
emancipation from oppression. 

Glowing with these sentiments, he embarked 
for this country, and arrived at New York on 
the 10th of November, 1773. On his arrival 
he became daily more enthusiastic in the cause 
of liberty, and travelled rapidly through the 
colonies, animating, both by conversation and 
his eloquent pen, to a determined and perse- 
vering resistance to British tyranny. 

His enthusiasm in favour of the rights of 
the colonies was such, that, after the battle of 
Lexington, ha accepted a major-general's com- 
mission in the American army; though his 
ambition had pointed out to him the post of 
commander-in-chief as the object of his wishes. 
Previous to this, however, he resigned his com- 
mission in the British service, and relinquished 
his half-pay. This he did in a letter to the 
British secretary at war, in which he expressed 
his disapprobation of the oppressive measures 
of parliament, declaring them to be absolutely 
subversive of the rights and liberties of every 
individual subject, so destructive to the whole 
empire at large, and ultimately so ruinous to 
his majesty's own person, dignity, and family, 
that he thought himself obliged in conscience, 



CHARLES LEE. 187 

as a citizen, Englishman, and soldier of a free 
state, to exert his utmost to defeat them. 

Immediately upon receiving his appointment, 
he accompanied General Washington to the 
camp at Cambridge, where he arrived July 2d, 
1775, and was received with every mark of 
respect. 

As soon as it was discovered at Cambridge 
that the British General Clinton had left Boston, 
General Lee was ordered to set forward, to 
observe his manoeuvres, and prepare to meet 
him in any part of the continent he m.ight visit. 
No man was better qualified, at this early stage 
of the war, to penetrate the designs of the 
enemy, than Lee. Nursed in the camp, and 
well versed in European tactics, the soldiers 
believed him, of all other officers, the best ab'e 
to face in the field an experienced British 
veteran, and lead them on to victory. 

New York was supposed to be the object of 
the enemy, and hither he hastened with all 
possible expedition. Immediately on his ar- 
rival, Lee took the most active and prompt 
measures to put it in a state of defence. He 
disarmed all suspected persons within the reach 
of his command, and proceeded with such 
rigour s^ainst the tories, as to give alarm at his 



188 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

assumption of military powers. From the 
lories he exacted a strong oath, and his bold 
measures carried terror wherever he appeared. 

"Not long after he was appointed to the 
command of the southern department, and in 
his travels through the country, he received 
every testimony of high respect from the 
people. General Sir Henry Clinton, and Sir 
Peter Parker, with a powerful fleet and army, 
attempted the reduction of Charleston while 
he was in command. The fleet anchored 
within half musket-shot of the fort on Sulli- 
van's Island, where Col. Moultrie, one of the 
bravest and most intrepid of men, commanded. 
A tremendous engagement ensued on the 28th 
of June, 1776, which lasted twelve hours 
without intermission. The whole British force 
was completely repulsed, after suffering an 
irreparable loss. 

" General Lee and Colonel Moultrie received 
the thanks of Congress for their signal bravery 
and gallantry. 

" Our hero had now reached the pinnacle of 
his military glory ; the eclat of his name alone 
appeared to enchant and animate the most 
desponding heart. But here we pause to con- 
template the humiliating reverse of human 



CHAKLES LEE. 189 

events. He returned to the wain army in 
October; and in inarrbing; at the head of a 
laro-e detachment tlirough the J* iveys, leaving, 
from a desire of retaining a separate command, 
delayed his march several days, in disobedience 
of express orders from the commander-*n-chief, 
he was guilty of most culpable negligence in 
regard to his personal security. He took up 
his quarters two or three miles from the main 
body, and lay for the night, December 13th, 
1776, in a careless, exposed situation. In- 
formation of this being communicated to 
Colotiel Harcourt, who commanded the British 
li'^ht-horse, he proceeded immediately to the 
house, fired into it, and obliged the general to 
surrender himself a prisoner. They mounted 
him on a horse in haste, without his cloak or 
hat, and conveyed him in triumph to New 
York." 

Lee was treated, wl ile a prisoner, with 
great severity by the enemy, who affected to 
consider him as a state prisoner and deserter 
from the service of his Britannic mnjesty, and 
denied the privileges of an American officer. 
General Washington promptly retaliated the 
treatment received by Lee upon the British 
officers in his possession. This state of things 



190 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

existed until the capture of Burgoyne, when 
a complete change of treatment was observed 
towards Lee; and he was shortly afterward 
exchanged. 

The first military act of General Lee after 
his exchange, closed his career in the American 
army. Previous to the battle of Monmouth, 
his character in general was respectable. From 
the beginning of the contest, his unremitted 
zeal in the cause of America excited and di- 
rected the military spirit of the whole conti- 
nent; and his conversation inculcated the 
principles of liberty among all ranks of the 
people. 

His important services excited the warm 
gratitude of many of the friends of America. 
Hence it is said that a strong party was formed 
in Congress, and by some discontented officers 
in the army, to raise Lee to the first command : 
and it has been suggested by many, that General 
Lee's conduct at the battle of Monmouth was 
intended to eifect this plan: for could the 
odium of the defeat have been at this time 
thrown on General Washington, there is great 
reason to suppose that he would have been de- 
prived of his command. 

It is now to be seen how General Lee termi- 



CHA.RLES LEE. 191 

nated his military career. In the battle of 
Monmouth, on the 28th of June, 1778, he 
commanded the van of the American troops, 
with orders from the comnXander-in-chief to 
attack the retreating enemy. Instead of 
obeying this order, he conducted in an un- 
worthy manner, and greatly disconcerted the 
arrangements of the day. Washington, ad- 
vancing to the field of battle, met him in his 
disorderly retreat, and accosted him with strong 
expressions of disapprobation. Lee, incapable 
of brooking even an implied indignity, and 
unable to restrain the warmth of his resentment, 
used improper language in return, and some 
irritation was excited on both sides. The 
following letters immediately after passed be- 
tween Lee and the commander-in-chief : 

Camp, English -Town, 1st July, 1778. 
Sir — From the knowledge that I have of 
your excellency's character, I must conclude 
that nothing but the misinformation of some 
very stupid, or misrepresentation of some very 
wicked person, could have occasioned your 
making use of such very singular expressions 
as you did, on my coming up to the ground 
where you had taken post : they implied that 



102 HEROES OF THE nEVOLUTION. 

I was guilty either of disobedience of orders, 
want of conduct, or want of courage. Your 
excellency will, therefore, infinitely oblige me 
bv lettino* me know on which of these three 
articles you ground your charge, that I may 
prepare for my justification ; which I have the 
happiness to be confident I can do to the army, 
to the Congress, to America, and to the world 
in general. Your excellency must give me 
leave to observe, that neither yourself, nor 
those about your person, could, from your 
situation, be in the least judges of the merits or 
demerits of our manoeuvres ; and, to speak with 
a becoming pride, I can assert that to these 
manoeuvres the success of the day was entirely 
owing. I can boldly say, that had we remained 
on the first ground — or had we advanced — or 
had the retreat been conducted in a manner 
different from what it was, this whole army, 
and the interests of America, would have risked 
being sacrificed. I ever had, and I hope ever 
shall have, the greatest respect and veneration 
for General Washington ; I think him endowed 
with many great and good qualities j but in this 
instance I must pronounce, that he has been 
guilty of an act of cruel injustice towards a 
man who had certainly some pretensions to the 



CHARLES LEE. 193 

regard of every servant of his country ; and I 
think, sir, I have a right to demand some 
reparation for the injury committed ; and unless 
I can obtain it, I must, in justice to myself, 
when the campaign is closed, which I believe 
will close the war, retire from a service, at the 
head of which is placed a man capable of 
offering such injuries ; — but at the same time, 
in justice to you, I must repeat that I, from my 
soul, believe that it was not a motion of your 
own breast, but instigated by some of those 
dirty earwigs, who will for ever insinuate 
themselves near persons in high office ; for I 
am really assured that, when General Wash- 
ington acts from himself, no man in his army 
will have reason to complain of injustice and 
indecorum. 

I am, sir, and I hope ever shall have reason 
to continue. Yours, &c. 

CHARLES LEE. 
His excellency General Washington. 

Head-quarters, English- Town, June 28, 1778. 
Sir — I received your letter, dated through 
mistake the 1st of July, expressed, as I conceive, 
in terms highly improper. I am not conscious 
of having made use of any singular expressions 
17 



19 4f HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

at the time of my meeting you, as you intimate. 
What I recollect to have said was dictated by 
duty, and warranted by the occasion. As 
soon as circumstances will admit, you shall 
have an opportunity, either of justifying your- 
self to the army, to Congress, to America, and 
to the world in general, or of convincing them 
that you are guilty of a breach of orders, and 
of misbehaviour before the enemy on the 28th 
instant, in not attacking them as you had been 
directed, and in making an unnecessary, dis- 
orderly, and shameful retreat. 

I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 

G. WASHINGTON. 

A court-martial, of which Lord Stirling was 
president, was ordered for his trial, and after a 
masterly defence by General Lee, found him 
guilty of all the charges, and sentenced him to 
be suspended from any command in the army 
for the term of twelve months. This sentence 
was shortl}^ afterward confirmed by Congress. 

When promulgated, it was like a mortal 
wound to the lofty, aspiring spirit of General 
Lee ; pointing to his dog, he exclaimed — " Oh 
that I was that animal, that I might not calJ 
man my brother." He became outrageous, and 



CHARLES LEE. 195 

from that moment he was more open and 
virulent in his attack on the character of the 
commander-in-chief, and did not cease in his 
unwearied endeavours, both in his conversation 
and writings, to lessen his reputation in the 
estimation of the army and the public. He 
was an active abettor of General Conway in 
his calumny and abuse of General Washington, 
and they were believed to be in concert in their 
vile attempts to supersede his excellency in the 
supreme command. With the hope of effecting 
his nefarious purpose, he published a pamphlet 
replete with scurrilous imputations unfavourable 
to the military talents of the commander-in- 
chief, but this, with his other malignant alle- 
gations, was consigned to contempt. 

At length Colonel Laurens, one of General 
Washington's aids, unable longer to suffer this 
gross abuse of his illustrious friend, demanded 
of Lee that satisfaction which custom has 
sanctioned as honourable. A rencounter ac- 
cordingly ensued, and Lee received a wound 
in his side. 

Lee now finding himself abandoned by his 
friends, degraded in the eye of the public, and 
despised by the wise and virtuous, retired to 
his sequestered plantation in Virginia. In this 



196 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

spot, secluded from all society, he lived in a 
sort of hovel, without glass windows or plaster- 
ing, or even a decent article of house furniture ; 
here he amused himself with his books and 
dogs. On January 10th, 1780, Congress re- 
solved that Major-General Lee be informed 
that they have no further occasion for his 
services in the army of the United States. In 
the autumn of 1782, wearied with his forlorn 
situation and broken spirit, he resorted to 
Philadelphia, and took lodgings in an ordinary 
tavern. He was soon seized with a disease of 
the lungs, and after a few days' confinement, 
he terminated his mortal course, a martyr to 
chagrin and disappointment, October 2d, 1782. 
The last words which he was heard to utter 
were, " stand by me, my brave grenadiers." 

General Lee was rather above the middle 
size, " plain in his person even to ugliness, and 
careless in his manners even to a degree of 
rudeness : his nose was so remarkably aquiline, 
that it appeared as a real deformity. His voice 
was rough, his garb ordinary, his deportment 
morose. He was ambitious of fame, without 
the dignity to support it. In private life he 
sunk into the vulgarity of the clown." His 
remarkable partiality for dogs was such, that a 



CHARLES LEE. 197 

number of these animals constantly followed 
in his train, and the ladies complained that he 
allowed his canine adherents to follow him into 
the parlour, and not unfrequently a favourite 
one might be seen on a chair next his elbow at 
table. 

In the year 1776, when our army lay at 
White-Plains, Lee resided near the road which 
General Washington frequently passed, and he 
one day with his aids called and took dinner. 
After they had departed, Lee said to his aids, 
" You must look me out other quarters, or I 
shall have Washington and his puppies calling 
till they eat me up." The next day he ordered 
his servants to write with chalk on the door, 
*• No victuals cooked here to-day." The 
company seeing the hint on the door, passed, 
with a smile at the oddity of the man. " The 
character of this person," says one who knew 
him well, " is full of absurdities and qualities 
of a most extraordinary nature." 

While in Philadelphia, shortly before his 
death, the following ludicrous circumstance 
took place, which created no small diversion. 

The late Judge Brackenridge, whose poign- 
ancy of satire and eccentricity of character 
were nearly a match for that of the general, 
17* 



198 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

had dipped his pen in some gall, which greatly 
irritated Lee's feelings, insomuch that he chal- 
lenged him to single combat, which Bracken- 
ridge declined in a very eccentric reply. Lee 
having furnished himself with a horsewhip, 
determined to chastise him ignominiously on 
the very first opportunity. Observing Brack- 
enridge going down Market street a few days 
after, he gave him chase, and Brackenridge 
took refuge in a public house, and barricadoed 
the door of the room he entered. A number 
of persons collected to see the result. Lee 
damned him, and invited him to come out and 
fight him like a man. Brackenridge replied, 
that he did not like to be shot at, and made 
some other curious observations, which only 
increased Lee's irritation, and the mirth of the 
spectators. Lee, with the most bitter impre- 
cation, ordered him to come out, when he said 
he would horsewhip him. Brackenridge re- 
plied, that he had no occasion for a discipline 
of that kind. The amusing scene lasted some 
time, until at length Lee, finding that he could 
accomplish no other object than calling forth 
Brackenridge's wit for the amusement of the 
bystanders, retired. 

General Lee was master of a most genteel 



CHARLES LEE. 199 

address, but was rude in his manners, and 
excessively negligent in his appearance and 
behaviour. His appetite v^^as so w^himsical, 
that he was every where a most troublesome 
guest. Two or three dogs usually followed 
him wherever he went. As an officer, he was 
brave and able, and did much towards disci- 
plining the American army. With vigorous 
powers of mind and a brilliant fancy, he was 
a correct and elegant classical scholar, and he 
both wrote and spoke his native language with 
propriety, force, and beauty. His temper was 
severe j the history of his life is little else 
than the history of disputes, quarrels, and 
duels, in every part of the world. He was 
vindictive, avaricious, immoral, impious, and 
profane. His principles, as would be expected 
from his character, were most abandoned, 
and he ridiculed every tenet of religion. 
Two virtues he possessed to an eminent de- 
gree, sincerity and veracity. It was notorious 
that General Lee vv^as a man of unbounded 
personal ambition ; and, conscious of his 
European education, and pre-eminent military 
talents and prowess, he effected a superiority 
over General Washington, and constantly 
aimed at the supreme command, little scrupu 



200 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

lous as to the means employed to accomplish 
his own advancement. 

The follov^ing is an extract from General 
Lee's will. 

" I desire most earnestly that I may not be 
buried in any church or church-yard, or with- 
in a mile of any Presbyterian or Anabaptist 
meeting house ) for since I have resided 
in this country, I have kept so much bad 
company while living, that I do not choose to 
continue it while dead." 



JOHN SULLIVAN, 

Major-General in the American Army. 

General Sullivan was a native of New 
Hampshire, where he resided before the revo- 
lution, and attained to a high degree of emi- 
nence in the profession of the law. He was 
a member of the first Congress, in 1774; but 
on the commencement of hostilities, preferring 
a military commission, he relinquished the 
fairest prospects of fortune and fame, and ap- 
peared among the most ardent patriots and 
intrepid warriors. 

" In 1775, he was appointed a brigadier 
general, and immediately joined the army 
at Cambridge, and soon after obtained the com- 
mand on Winter Hill. The next year he was 
ordered to Canada, and, on the death of Gene- 
ral Thomas, the command of the army de- 
volved on him. The situation of our army in 
that quarter was inexpressibly distressing ; des- 
titute of clothing, dispirited by defeat and 
constant fatigue, and a large proportion of the 
troops sick with the small-pox. By his great 
exertions and judicious management, he raeli- 

201 



202 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

orated the condition of the army, and obtained 
general applause. On his retiring from that 
command July 12th, 1776, the field-officers 
thus addressed him : 'It is to you, sir, the 
public are indebted for the preservation of 
their property in Canada. It is to you we 
owe our safety thus far. Your humanity will 
call forth the silent tear and the grateful 
ejaculation of the sick. Your universal im- 
partiality will force the applause of the wea- 
ried soldier.' 

" In August, 1776, he was promoted to the 
rank of major-general, and soon after was, 
with Major-General Lord Stirling, captured by 
the British in the battle on Long Island. 
General Sullivan being paroled, was sent by 
General Howe with a messao;e to Cono-ress, 
after which he returned to New York. In 
September he was exchanged for Major Gene- 
ral Prescott. We next find him in command 
of the right division of our troops, in the 
famous battle at Trenton, and he acquitted 
himself honourably on that ever memorable 
day. 

"In August, 1777, without the authority of 
Congress, or the commander-in-chief, he plan- 
ned and executed an expedition against the 



JOHN SULLIVAN 203 

enemy on Staten Island. Though the enter- 
prise was conducted with prudence and success, 
in part, it was said by some to have been less 
brilliant than might have been expected under 
his favourable circumstances ; and as that act 
was deemed a bold assumption of responsibili- 
ty, and reports to his prejudice being in circu- 
lation, a court of inquiry was ordered to in- 
vestiscate his conduct. The result was an 
honourable acquittal ; and Congress resolved, 
that the result, so honourable to General Sulli- 
van, is highly pleasing to Congress, and that 
the opinion of the court be published, in justi- 
fication of that injured officer. 

" In the battles of Brandywine and German- 
town, in the autumn of 1777, General Sulli- 
van commanded a division, and in the latter 
conflict his two aids were killed, and his own 
conduct was so conspicuously brave, that Gene- 
ral Washington, in his letter to Congress, con- 
cludes with encomiums on the gallantry of 
General Sullivan, and the whole right wing of 
the army, who acted immediately cinder the 
eye of his excellency. 

"In August, 1778, General Sullivan, was 
sole commander of an expedition to the Island 
of Newport, in co-operation with the French 



204" HEROES OF TIIE REVOLUTION. 

fleet under the Count D'Estaing. The Marquis 
de la Fayette and General Greene volunteered 
their services on the occasion. The object of 
the expedition was defeated, in consequence of 
the French fleet being driven ofl" by a violent 
storm. By this unfortunate event, the enemy 
were encouraged to engage our army in battle, 
in which they suffered a repulse, and General 
Sullivan finally effected a safe retreat to the 
main. This retreat, so ably executed, without 
confusion or the loss of baggage or stores, 
increased the military reputation of General 
Sullivan, and redounds to his honour as a 
skilful commander. 

" The bloody tragedy acted at Wyoming, in 
1778, had determined the commander-in-chief, 
in 1779, to employ a large detachment from 
the continental army to penetrate into the 
heart of the Indian country, to chastise the 
hostile tribes and their white associates and ad- 
herents, for their cruel aggressions on the 
defenceless inhabitants. The command of this 
expedition was committed to Major-General 
Sullivan, with express orders to destroy their 
settlements, to ruin their crops, and make such 
thorough devastations as to render the country 
entirely uninhabitable for the present, and thus 



JOHN SULLIVAN. 205 

to compel the savages to remove to a greater 
distance from our frontiers. 

" General Sullivan had under his command 
several brigadiers, and a vi^ell chosen army, to 
which were attached a number of friendly 
Indian warriors. With this force he penetra- 
ted about ninety miles, through a horrid 
swampy wilderness and barren mountainous 
deserts, to Wyoming, on the Susquehanna 
river, thence by water to Tioga, and possessed 
himself of numerous towns and villages of 
the savages. 

" During this hazardous expedition General 
Sullivan and his army encountered the most 
complicated obstacles, requiring the greatest 
fortitude and perseverance to surmount. He 
explored an extensive tract of country, and 
strictly executed the severe, but necessary 
orders he had received. A considerable num- 
ber of Indians were slain, some were captured, 
their habitations were burnt, and their planta- 
tions of corn and vegetables laid waste in the 
most effectual manner. ' Eighteen villages, a 
number of detached buildings, one hundred 
and sixty thousand bushels of corn, -and those 
fruits and vegetables which conduce to the 
comfort and subsistence of man, were utterly 
18 



206 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

destroyed. Five weeks were unremittingly 
employed in this work of devastation.' 

" On his return from the expedition, he and 
his army received the approbation of Congress. 
It is remarked on this expedition, by the trans- 
lator of M. Chastelleux's travels, an English- 
man, then resident in the United States, that 
the instructions given by General Sullivan to 
his officers, the order of march he prescribed 
to his troops, and the discipline he had the 
ability to maintain, would have done honour 
to the most experienced ancient or modern 
generals. 

"At the close of the campaign of 1779, 
General Sullivan, in consequence of impaired 
health, resigned his commission in the army. 
Congress, in accepting his resignation, passed 
a resolve, thanking him for his past services. 
His military talents and bold spirit of enter- 
prise were universally acknowledged. He 
was fond of display, and his personal appear- 
ance and dignified deportment commanded 
respect. After his resignation, he resumed 
his professional pursuits at the bar, and was 
much distinguished as a statesman, politician, 
and patriot. He acquired very considerable 
proficiency in general literature, and an exten- 



JOHN SULLIVAN. 207 

sive knowledge of men and the world. He 
received from Harvard University a degree of 
master of arts, and from the University of 
Dartmouth a degree of doctor of laws. He 
was one of the convention who formed the 
state constitution for New Hampshire, was 
chosen into the first council, and was after- 
wards elected chief magistrate in that state, 
and held the office for three years. In Sep- 
tember, 1789, he was appointed judge of the 
district court for the district of New Hamp- 
shire, and continued in the office till his death, 
in 1795." 



JOSEPH WARREN, 

Major-General in the American Army. 

"Joseph Warren was born in Roxbury, 
near Boston, in the year 1741. His father 
was a respectable farmer in that place, who 
had held several municipal offices, to the 
acceptance of his fellow citizens. Joseph, 
with several of his brothers, was instructed in 
the elementary branches of knowledge, at the 
public grammar-school of the town, which 
was distinguished for its successive instructers 
of superior attainments. In 1755, he entered 
college, where he sustained the character of a 
youth of talents, fine manners, and of a 
generous independent deportment, united to 
great personal courage and perseverance. An 
anecdote will illustrate his fearlessness and de- 
termination at that age, when character can- 
hardly be said to be formed. Several students 
of Warren's class shut themselves in a room 
to arrange some college affairs, in a way which 
they knew was contrary to his wishes, and 
barred the door so effectually, that he could 
not without great violence force it : but he did 
208 



JOSEPH WARREN. 209 

not give over the attempt of getting among 
them ; for perceiving that the window of the 
room in which they were assembled was open, 
and near a spout which extended from the 
roof of the building to the ground, he went to 
the top of the house, slid down to the eaves, 
seized the spout, and when he had descended as 
far as the window, threw himself into the 
chamber among them. At that instant the 
spout, which was decayed and weak, gave 
way^and fell to the ground. He looked at it 
without emotion, said that it had served his 
purpose, and began to take his part in the 
business. A spectator of this feat and narrow 
escape, related this fact to me in the college- 
yard, nearly half a century afterward ; and 
the impression it made on his mind was so 
strong, that he seemed to feel the same emo- 
tion as though it had happened but an hour 
before. 

*'0n leaving college, in 1759, Warren 
turned his attention to the study of medicine, 
under the direction of Doctor Lloyd, an emi- 
nent physician of that day, whose valuable 
life has been protracted almost to the present 
time. Warren was distinguished very soon 
after he commenced practice 3 for when, in 
18* 



210 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTIOxV. 

1764*, the small-pox spread in Boston, he was 
among the most successful in his method of 
treating that disease, which was then consider- 
ed the most dreadful scourge of the human 
race ; and the violence of which had baffled 
the efforts of the learned faculty of medicine 
from the time of its first appearance. From 
this moment he stood high among his brethren, 
and was the favourite of the people ; and what 
he gained in their good-will he never lost. 
His personal appearance, his address, his cour- 
tesy, and his humanity, won the way to the 
hearts of all ; and his knowledge and superi- 
ority of talents secured the conquest. A 
bright and lasting fame in his profession, with 
the attendant consequences, wealth and influ- 
ence, were within his reach, and near at hand : 
but the calls of a distracted country were 
paramount to every consideration of his own 
interests, and he entered the vortex of politics, 
never to return to the peaceful course of 
professional labour. 

" The change in public opinion had been 
gradually preparing the minds of most men 
for a revolution. This was not openly avow- 
ed : amelioration of treatment for the present, 
and assurances of kindness in future, were all 



JOSEPH WARREN. 211 

that the colonies asked from Great Britain- but 
these they did not receive. The mother country 
mistook the spirit of her children, and used 
threats when kindness would have been the 
best policy. When Britain declared her right 
to direct, govern, and tax us in any form, and 
at all times, the colonies reasoned, remonstra- 
ted, and entreated for a while ; and when 
these means did not answer, they defied and 
resisted. The political writers of the province 
had been active and busy, but they were gene- 
rally screened by fictitious names, or sent their 
productions anonymously into the world ; but 
the time had arrived, when speakers of nerve 
and boldness were wanted to raise their voices 
against oppression in every shape. Warren 
possessed first rate qualities for an orator, and 
had early declared in the strongest terms his 
political sentiments, which were somewhat in 
advance of public opinion ; for he held as 
tyranny all taxation which could be imposed 
by the British parliament upon the colonies. 
In times of danger, the people are sagacious, 
and cling to those who best can serve them ; 
and every eye was on him in every emergency ; 
for he had not only the firmness and decision 
they wished for in a leader, but was prudent 



212 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION 

and wary in all his plans. His first object was 
to enlighten the people ; and then he felt sure 
of engaging their feelings in the general cause. 
He knew, wh*en once they began, it would be 
impossible to tread back — independence only 
would satisfy the country. With an intention 
of directing public sentiment, without appear- 
ing to be too active, he met frequently with a 
considerable number of substantial mechanics, 
and others in the middling classes of society, 
who were busy in politics. This crisis re- 
quired such a man as they found him to be ; 
one who could discern the signs of the times, 
and mould the ductile materials to his will, 
and at the same time seem only to follow 
in the path of others. His letter to Barnard, 
which attracted the notice of government, had 
been written several years before, in 1768; 
but in some form or other he was constantly 
enlightening the people by his pen : but it is 
now difficult, and of no great importance, 
to trace him in the papers of that period. 
The public was not then always right in 
designating the authors of political essays. In 
the different situations in which he was called 
to act, he assumed as many characters as fable 
has ever given to the tutelar god of his pro- 



JOSEPH WARREN. 213 

fession, and like him, in every one of them, 
he retained the wisdom to guide and the power 
to charm. At one time he might be found re- 
straining the impetuosity, and bridling the fury 
of those hot-headed politicians who felt more 
than they reasoned, and dared to do more than 
became men. Such was his versatility, that 
he turned from these lectures of caution 
and prudence, to asserting and defending the 
most bold and undisguised principles of liberty, 
and defying, in their very teeth, the agents of 
the crown. Twice he was elected to deliver 
the oration on the 5th of March, in commem- 
oration of the massacre ; and his orations are 
among the most distinguished produced by that 
splendid list of speakers who addressed their 
fellow citizens on this subject, so interesting to 
them all. In these productions generally, the 
immediate causes of this event were over- 
looked, and the remote ones alone were 
discussed. Here they were on safe ground; 
for tyranny, in its incipient stages, has no 
excuses from opposition ; but in its march, it 
generally finds some plausible arguments for its 
proceedings, drawn from the very resistance it 
naturally produces. These occasions gave the 
orators a fine field for remark, and a fair oppor- 



214 HEROES or THE PwEVOLUTION. 

tunity for effect. The great orators of antiqui- 
ty, in their speeches, attempted only to rouse 
the people to retain what they possessed. 
Invective, entreaty, and pride, had their effect 
in assisting those mighty masters to influence 
the people. They were ashamed to lose what 
their fathers left them, won by their blood, 
and so long preserved by their wisdom, their 
virtues, and their courage. Our statesmen had 
a harder task to perform ; for they were com- 
pelled to call on the people to gain what 
they had never enjoyed — an independent rank 
and standing among the nations of the world. 

" His next oration was delivered March 6th, 
1775. It was at his own solicitation that he 
was appointed to this duty a second time. The 
fact is illustrative of his character, and worthy 
of remembrance. Some British officers of the 
army then in Boston, had publicly declared 
that it should be at the price of the life of 
any man to speak of the event of March 5th, 
1770, on that anniversary. Warren's soul took 
lire at such a threat, so openly made, and he 
wished for the honour of braving it. This was 
readily granted: for at such a time a man 
would probably find but few rivals. Many 
who would spurn the thought of personal fear, 



JOSEPH WARREN. 215 

might be apprehensive that they would be so 
far disconcerted as to forget their discourse. 
It is easier to fight bravely, than to think clearly 
or correctly in danger. Passion sometimes 
nerves the arm to fight, but disturbs the 
regular current of thought. The day came, 
and the weather was remarkably fine. The 
Old South Meeting House was crowded at an 
early hour. The British ofiicers occupied the 
aisles, the flight of steps to the pulpit, and 
several of them were within it. It was not 
precisely known whether this was accident or 
design. The orator, with the assistance of his 
friends, made his entrance at the pulpit win- 
dow by a ladder. The officers seeing his 
coolness and intrepedity, made way for him to 
advance and address the audience. An awful 
stillness preceded his exordium. Each man 
felt the palpitations of his own heart, and saw 
the pale but determined face of his neighbour. 
The speaker began his pration in a firm tone 
of voice, and proceeded with great energy 
and pathos. Warren and his friends were 
prepared to chastise contumely, prevent dis- 
grace, and avenge an attempt at assassination. 

"The scene was sublime; a patriot, in 
whom the flush of youth and the grace and 



216 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

dignity of manhood were combined, stood 
armed in the sanctuary of God, to animate and 
encourage the sons of liberty, and to hurl de- 
fiance at their oppressors. The orator com- 
menced with the early history of the country, 
described the tenure by which we held our 
liberties and property — the affection we had 
constantly shown the parent country, and 
boldly told them how, and by whom these 
blessings of life had been violated. There 
was in this appeal to Britain — in this descrip- 
of suffering, agony, and horror, a calm and 
high-souled defiance which must have chilled 
the blood of every sensible foe. Such another 
hour has seldom happened in the history of 
man, and is not surpassed in the records of na- 
tions. The thunders of Demosthenes rolled at 
a distance from Philip and his host — and Tully 
poured the fiercest torrent of his invective 
when Cataline was at a distance, and his 
dagger no longer to be feared : but Warren's 
speech was made to proud oppressors, resting 
on their arms, whose errand it was to overawe, 
and whose business it was to fight. 

" If the deed of Brutus deserved to be com- 
memorated by history, poetry, painting, and 
sculpture, should not this instance of patriotism 



JOSEPH WARREN. 317 

and bravery be held in lasting remembrance'^ 
If he 

* That struck the foremost man of all this world,' 

was hailed as the first of freeman, what 
honours are not due to him, who undismayed 
bearded the British lion, to show the world 
what his countrymen dared to do in the cause 
of liberty ? If the statue of Brutus was placed 
among those of the gods who were the pre- 
servers of Roman freedom, should not that of 
Warren fill a lofty niche in the temple reared 
to perpetuate the remembrance of our birth as 
a nation ? 

"If independence was not at first openly 
avowed by our leading men at that time, the 
hope of attaining it was fondly cherished, and 
the exertions of the patriots pointed to this 
end. The wise knew that the storm which the 
political Prosperos were raising, would pass 
away in blood. With these impressions on his 
mind, Warren for several years was preparing 
himself by study and observation, to take 
a conspicuous rank in the military arrange- 
ments which he knew must ensue. 

« On the 18th of April, 1775, by his agents 
in Boston, he discovered the design of the 
19 



218 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

British commander to sieze or destroy our few 
stores at Concord. He instantly despatched 
several confidential messengers to Lexington. 
The late venerable patriot, Paul Revere, was 
one of them. This gentleman has given a 
very interesting account of the difficulties he 
encountered in the discharge of this duty. 
The alarm was given, and the militia, burning 
with resentment, were, at day-break on the 
19th, on the road to repel insult and aggression. 
The drama was opened about sunrise, within a 
few yards of the house of God, in Lexington. 
Warren hastened to the field of action, in the 
full ardour of his soul, and shared the dangers 
of the day. While pressing on the enemy, a 
musket-ball took off a lock of his hair close to 
his ear. The lock was rolled and pinned, 
after the fashion of that day, and considerable 
force must have been necessary to have cut it 
away. The people were delighted with his 
cool, collected bravery, and already considered 
him as a leader, whose gallantry they were to 
admire, and in whose talents they were to 
confide. On the 14th of June, 1775, the 
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts made 
him a major-general of their forces ; but pre- 
vious to the date of his commission, he had 



JOSEPH WARREN. 219 

been unceasing in his exertions to maintain 
order and enforce discipline among the troops, 
which had hastily assembled at Cambridge, 
after the battle of Lexington. He mingled in 
the ranks, and by every method and argument 
strove to inspire them with confidence, and 
succeeded in a most wonderful manner in 
imparting to them a portion of the flame 
which glowed in his own breast. At such 
a crisis genius receives its birth-right — the 
homage of inferior minds, who, for self-pre- 
servation, are willing to be directed. Pre- 
vious to receiving the appointment of major- 
general, he had been requested to take the 
office of physician-general to the army, but he 
chose to be where wounds were to be made, 
rather than where they were to be healed. Yet 
he lent his aid and advice to the medical 
department of the army, and was of great ser- 
vice to them in their organization and arrange- 
ments. 

" He was at this time president of the Pro- 
vincial Congress, having been elected, the pre- 
ceding year, a member from the town of 
Boston. In this body he discovered his extra- 
ordinary powers of mind, and his peculiar 
fitness for responsible offices at such a juncture. 



220 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Cautious in proposing measures, he was assidu- 
ous in pursuing what he thought, after mature 
deliberation, to be right, and never counted the 
probable cost of a measure, when he had 
decided that it was necessary to be taken. 
When this Congress, which was sitting at 
Watertown, adjourned for the day, he mounted 
his horse and hastened to the camp. Every 
day ' he bought golden opinions of all sorts of 
men j* and when the troops were called to act 
on Breed's Hill, he had so often been am.ong 
them, that his person was known to most 
of the soldiers. 

" Several respectable historians have fallen 
into some errors in describing the battle in 
which he fell, by giving the command of the 
troops on that day to Warren, when he was 
only a volunteer in the fight. He did not 
arrive on the battle-ground until the enemy 
had commenced their movements for the 
attack. As soon as he made his appearance on 
the field, the veteran commander of the day, 
Colonel Prescott, desired to act under his 
directions ; but Warren declined taking any 
other part than that of a volunteer, and added, 
that he came to learn the art of war from an 
experienced soldier, whose orders he should be 



JOSEPH WARREN. 221 

happy to obey. In the battle he was armed 
with a musket, and stood in the ranks, now and 
then changing his place, to encourage his 
fellow-soldiers by words and by example. 
He undoubtedly, from the state of hostilities, 
expected soon to act in his high military 
capacity, and it was indispensable, according 
to his views, that he should share the dangers 
of the field as a common soldier with his 
fellow-citizens, that his reputation for bravery 
might be put beyond the possibility of suspi- 
cion. The wisdom of such a course would 
never have been doubted, if he had returned 
in safety from the fight. In such a struggle 
for independence, the ordinary rules of pru- 
dence and caution could not govern those who 
were building up their names for future use- 
fulness by present exertion. Some maxims 
drawn from the republican writers of antiqui- 
ty, were worn as their mottos. Some precepts 
descriptive of the charms of liberty, were 
ever on their tongues ; and some classical 
model of Greek or Roman patriotism was 
constantly in their minds. Instances of great 
men mixing in the rank of common soldiers, 
were to be found in ancient times, when men 
fought for their altars and their homes. The 
19* 



222 HEROES OP THE REVOLUTION. 

cases were parallel, and the examples were 
imposing. When the battle was decided, and 
our people fled, Warren was one of the last 
who left the breastwork, and was slain within 
a few yards of it, as he was slowly retiring. 
He probably felt mortified at the event of the 
day ) but had he known how dearly the victory 
was purchased, and how little honour was 
gained by those who won it, his heart would 
have been at rest. Like the band of Leoni- 
das, the vanquished have received, by the 
judgment of nations, from which there is no 
appeal, the imperishable laurels of victors. 
His death brought a sickness to the heart 
of the community, and the people mourned 
his fall, not with the convulsive agony of a 
betrothed virgin over the bleeding corpse 
of her lover — but with the pride of the Spar- 
tan mother, who, in the intensity of her grief, 
smiled to see that the wounds whence life had 
flown, were on the breast of her son — and 
was satisfied that he had died in defence of his 
country. The worth of the victim, and the 
horror of the sacrifice, gave a higher value to 
our liberties, and produced a more fixed determi- 
nation to preserve them. 

« The battle of Bunker's Hill has often been 



JOSEPH WARREN. 223 

described, and of late its minutest details given 
to the public; but never was the military, 
moral, and political character of that great 
event more forcibly drawn, than in the follow- 
ing extract from the North American Review, 
for July, 1818 : 

* The incidents and the result of the battle 
itself, were most important, and indeed most 
wonderful. As a mere battle, few surpass 
it in whatever engages and interests the atten- 
tion. It was fought on a conspicuous emi- 
nence, in the immediate neighbourhood of a 
populous city ; and consequently in the view 
of thousands of spectators. The attacking 
army moved over a sheet of water to the 
assault. The operations and movements were 
of course all visible and* all distinct. Those 
who looked on from the houses and heights of 
Boston had a fuller view of every important 
operation and event, than can ordinarily be had 
of any battle or that can possibly be had of 
such as are fought on a more extended ground, 
or by detachments of troops acting in different 
places, and at different times, and in some 
measure independently of each other. When 
the British columns were advancing to the 
attack, the flames of Charlestown, (fired, as is 



224 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

generally supposed, by a shell,) began to ascend. 
The spectators, far outnumbering both armies, 
thronged and crowded on every height and 
every point which afforded a view of the 
scene, themselves constituting a very important 
part of it. 

' The troops of the two armies seemed like 
so many combatants in an amphitheatre. The 
manner in which they should acquit them- 
selves was to be judged of, not as in other cases 
of military engagements, by reports and future 
history, but by a vast and anxious assembly 
already on the spot, and waiting with unspeak- 
able concern and emotion the progress of 
the day. 

* In other battles, the recollection of wives 
and children has beeh used as an excitement to 
animate the warrior's breast, and nerve his 
arm. Here was not a mere recollection, but 
an actual 'presence of them and other dear con- 
nexions, hanging on the skirts of the battle, 
anxious and agitated, feeling almost as if 
wounded themselves by every blow of the 
enemy, and putting forth, as it were, their own 
strength, and all the energy of their own 
throbbing bosoms, into every gallant effort of 
their warring friends. 



JOSEPH WARREN. 225 

'But there was a more comprehensive, and 
vastly more important view of that day's con- 
test, than has been mentioned ; a view, indeed, 
which ordinary eyes, bent intently on what 
was immediately before them, did not embrace, 
but which was perceived in its full extent and 
expansion by minds of a higher order. Those 
men who were at the head of the colonial 
councils, who had been engaged for years 
in the previous stages of the quarrel with 
England, and who had been accustomed to look 
forward to the future, were well apprised of 
the magnitude of the events likely to hang on 
the business of that day. They saw in it not 
only a battle, but the beginning of a civil war, 
of unmeasured extent and uncertain issue. 
All America, and all England, were likely to 
be deeply concerned in the consequences. 
The individuals themselves, who knew full 
well what agency they had had in bringing 
affairs to this crisis, had need of all their 
courage : not that disregard of personal safety, 
in which the vulgar suppose true courage to 
consist, but that high and fixed moral senti- 
ment, that steady and decided purpose, which 
enables men to pursue a distant end with a full 
view of the difficulties and dangers before 



226 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

them, and with a conviction that, before they 
arrive at the proposed end, should they ever 
reach it, they must pass through evil report as 
well as good report, and be liable to obloquy 
as well as to defeat. 

< Spirits that fear nothing else, fear disgrace ; 
and this danger is necessarily encountered 
by those who engage in civil war. Unsuccess- 
ful resistance is not only ruin to its authors, 
but is esteemed, and necessarily so, by the laws 
of all countries, treasonable. This is the case, 
at least till resistance becomes so general and 
formidable as to assume the form of regular 
war. But who can tell, when resistance com- 
mences, whether it will attain even to that 
degree of success ? Some of those persons 
who signed the Declaration of Independence, 
in 1777, described themselves as signing it, 
* as with halters about their necks.' If there 
were grounds for this remark in 1776, when 
the cause had become so much more general, 
how much greater was the hazard when the bat- 
tle of Bunker-Hill was fought ! 

' These considerations constituted, to en- 
larged and liberal minds, the moral sublimity 
of the occasion ; while, to the outward senses, 
the movement of armies, the roar of artillery, 



JOSEPH WARREN. 227 

the brilliancy of the reflection of a summer's 
sun from the burnished armour of the British 
columns, and the flames of a burning town, 
made up a scene of extraordinary grandeur.' 

" This eminence has become sacred ground. 
It contains in its bosom the ashes of the brave 
who died fighting to defend their altars and 
their homes. Strangers from all countries 
visit this spot, for it is associated in their 
memories with Marathon and Platsea, and all 
the mighty struggles of determined freemen. 
Our citizens love to wander over this field — 
they agreed to awake recollections, and the 
youthful to excite heroic emotions. The 
battle-ground is now all plainly to be seen — 
the spirit of modern improvement, which 
would stop the streams of Helicon to turn 
a mill, and caused to be felled the trees of 
Paradise to make a rafter, has yet spared this 
hallowed height. 

" If ' the days of chivalry be gone for ever,' 
and the high and enthusiastic feelings of gen- 
erosity and magnanimity be not so widely 
diffused as in more heroic ages, yet it cannot be 
denied but that there have been, and still are, 
individuals whose bosoms are warmed with a 
spirit as glowing and ethereal as ever swelled 



228 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

the heart of ' mailed knight,' who, in the 
ecstacies of love, religion, and martial glory, 
joined the v^ar-cry on the plains of Palestine, 
or proved his steel on the infidel foe. The 
history of every revolution is interspersed 
w^ith brilliant episodes of individual prowess. 
The pages of our own history, when fully 
written out, will sparkle profusely with these 
gems of romantic valour. 

" The calmness and indifference of the 
veteran * in clouds of dust, and seas of blood,' 
can only be acquired by long acquaintance 
with the trade of death ; but the heights of 
Charlestown will bear eternal testimony how 
suddenly, in the cause of freedom, the peace- 
ful citizen can become the invincible warrior 
— stung by oppression, he springs forward 
from his tranquil pursuits, undaunted by oppo- 
sition, and undismayed by danger, to fight even 
to death for the defence of his rights. Pa- 
rents, wives, children, and country, all the 
hallowed properties of existence, are to him 
the talisman that takes fear from his heart, and 
nerves his arm to victory. 

"In the requiem over those who have 
fallen in the cause of their country, which 



JOSEPH WARREN. 229 

'Time with his owii eternal lips shall sing,' 

the praises of Warren shall be distinctly 
heard. The blood of those patriots who have 
fallen in the defence of republics, has often 
' cried from the ground' against the ingratitude 
of the country for which it was shed. No 
monument was reared to their fame 5 no 
record of their virtues written j no fostering 
hand extended to their offspring — but they and 
their deeds were neglected and forgotten. 
Toward Warren there was no ingratitude — 
our country is free from this stain. Congress 
were the guardians of his honour, and remem- 
bered that his children were unprotected 
orphans. Within a year after his death Con- 
gress passed the following resolutions : 

" That a monument be erected to the memory 
of General Warren, in the town of Boston, 
with the following inscription : 

IN HONOUR OF 

JOSEPH WARREN, 

Major-General, of Massachusetts-Bay. 

He devoted his Life to the 

Liberties of his Country, 

and, in bravely defending them, 

fell an early Victim in the 

20 



230 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

BATTLE OF BUNKER-HILL, 

June 17, 1775. 

The Congress of the United States, 

as an acknowledgment of his 

Services and distinguished 

Merit, have erected this 

Monument to his 

memory. 

" It was resolved, likewise, ' that the eldest 
son of General Warren should be educated, 
from that time, at the expense of the United 
States.' On the 1st of July, 1780, Congress, 
recognising these former resolutions, further 
resolved, ' That it should be recommended to 
the executive of Massachusetts-Bay to make 
provision for the maintenance and education 
of his three younger children. And that 
Congress would defray the expense to the 
amount of the half-pay of a major-general, to 
commence at the time of his death, and con- 
tinue till the youngest of the children should 
be of age.' The part of the resolutions re- 
lating to the education of the children, was 
carried into effect accordingly. The monu- 
ment is not yet erected, but it is not too late.'* 



JOHN LAURENS, 

Colonel in the American Army, 

"Son of Henry Laurens, was born in 
Charleston, in 1755. In youth he discovered 
that energy of character which distinguished 
him through life. When a lad, though labour- 
ing under a fever, on the cry of fire, he leaped 
from his bed, hastened to the scene of danger, 
and was in a few minutes on the top of the expo- 
sed houses, risking his life to arrest the progress 
of the flames. This is the more worthy of 
notice, for precisely in the same way, and 
under a similar, but higher impulse of ardent 
patriotism, he lost his life in the year 1782. 

" At the age of sixteen he was taken to 
Europe by his father, and there put under the 
best means of instruction in Geneva, and 
afterward in London. 

" He was entered a student of law at the 
temple in 1774, and was daily improving in 
legal knowledge till the disputes between 
Great Britain and her colonies arrested his 
attention. He soon found that the claims 
of the mother country struck at the root of 

231 



232 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

liberty in the colonies, and that she perse- 
veringly resolved to enforce these claims at 
every hazard. Fain would he have come out 
to join his countrymen in anns at the com- 
mencement of the contest ; but the peremptory 
order of his father enjoined his continuance in 
England, to prosecute his studies and finish his 
education. As a dutiful son, he obeyed these 
orders ; but as a patriot burning vi^ith desire to 
defend his country, he dismissed Coke, Little- 
ton, and all the tribe of jurists, and substituted 
in their place Vauban, Folard, and other 
writers on war. He also availed himself of 
the excellent opportunities which London 
affords of acquiring practical knowledge of 
the manual exercise, of tactics, and the me- 
chanism of war. Thus instructed, as soon as 
he was a freeman of legal age, he quitted 
England for France, and by a circuitous 
voyage in neutral vessels, and at a considerable 
risk, made his way good, in the year 1777, to 
Charleston. 

" Independence had been declared — the 
American army was raised, officered, and in 
the field. He who, by his attainments in 
general science, and particularly in the military 
art, deserved high rank, had no ordinary door 



JOHN LAURENS. 233 

left open to serve his country, but by entering 
in the lowest grade of an army abounding 
with officers. General Washington, ever 
attentive to merit, instantly took him into 
his family as a supernumerary aid-de-camp. 
Shortly after this appointment, he had an 
opportunity of indulging his military ardour. 
He fought and was wounded in the battle of 
Germantown, October 4th, 1777. He con- 
tinued in General Washington's family, in the 
middle states, till the British had retreated from 
Philadelphia to New York, and was engaged 
in the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778. 

" After this, the war being transferred more 
northwardly, he was indulged in attaching 
himself to the army on Rhode Island, where 
the most active opeftitlons were expected soon 
to take place. There he was entrusted with 
the command of some light troops. The 
bravery and good conduct which he displayed 
on this occasion was honoured by Congress. 

"On the 5th of November, 1778, they 
resolved, ' that John Laurens, Esq. aid-de-camp 
to General Washington, be presented with 
a continental commission of lieutenent-colo- 
nel, in testimony of the sense which Congress 
entertain of his patriotic and spirited services 
20* 



234 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

as a volunteer in the American army 5 and of 
his brave conduct in several actions, particu- 
larly in that of Rhode Island, on the 29th of 
August last ; and that General Washington be 
directed, whenever an opportunity shall offer, 
to give Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens command 
agreeable to his rank.' On the next day, a 
letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens was 
read in Congress, expressing ' his gratitude for 
the unexpected honour which Congress was 
pleased to confer on him by the resolution 
passed the day before ; and the high satisfac- 
tion it would have afforded him, could he have 
accepted it without injuring the rights of the 
officers in the line of the army, and doing an 
evident injustice to his colleagues in the family 
of the commander-in-chiel' — that having been 
a spectator of the couvulsions occasioned in 
the army by disputes of rank, he held the 
tranquillity of it too dear to be instrumental in 
disturbing it, and therefore entreated Congress 
to suppress the resolve of yesterday, ordering 
him a commission of lieutenant-colonel, and 
to accept his sincere thanks for the intended 
honour.' In this relinquishment there was a 
victory gained by patriotism over self-love. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens loved military 



JOHN LAURENS. 235 

iame and rank ; but he loved his country more, 
and sacrificed the former to preserve the peace 
and promote the interest of the latter. 

" In the next year the British directed their 
military operations chiefly against the most 
southern states. Lieutenant-Colonel John 
Laurens was induced by double motives to 
repair to Carolina. The post of danger was 
always the object of his preference. His 
native state was become the theatre of war. 
To its aid he repaired, and in May, 1779, with 
a party of light troops, had a skirmish with 
the British at Tulifinny. In endeavouring to 
obstruct their progress towards Charleston, he 
received a wound. This was no sooner cured 
than he rejoined the army, and was engaged in 
the unsuccessful attack on Savannah, on the 
9th of October of the same year. To prepare 
for the defence of Charleston, the reduction 
of which was known to be contemplated by 
the British, was the next object of attention 
among the Americans. To this Colonel Lau- 
rens devoted all the energies of his active 
mind. 

" In the progress of the siege, which com- 
menced in 1780, the success of defensive 
operations became doubtful. Councils of war 



236 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

were frequent — several of the citizens were 
known to wish for a surrender, as a termina- 
tion of their toils and dangers. In these 
councils, and on proper occasions. Colonel 
Laurens advocated the abandonment of the 
front lines, and to retire to new ones to be 
erected within the old ones, and to risk an 
assault. When these spirited measures were 
opposed on the suggestion that the inhabitants 
preferred a capitulation, he declared that he 
would direct his sword to the heart of the first 
citizen who would urge a capitulation against 
the opinion of the commander-in-chief. 

" When his superior officers, convinced of 
the inefficacy of further resistance, were dis- 
posed to surrender on terms of capitulation, 
he yielded to the neccessity of the case, and 
became a prisoner of war. This reverse of 
fortune opened a new door for serving his 
country in a higher line than he ever yet had 
done. He was soon exchanged, and reinstated 
in a capacity for acting. In expediting his 
exchange. Congress had the ulterior view of 
sending him a special minister to Paris, that he 
might urge the necessity of a vigorous co- 
operation on the part of France with the 
United States against Great Britain. When 



JOHN LAURENS. 237 

this was proposed to Colonel Laurens, he 
recommended and urged that Colonel Alexan- 
der Hamilton should be employed in preference 
to himself. Congress adhered to their first 
choice. 

" Colonel Laurens sailed for France in the 
latter end of 1780, and there, in conjunction 
with Dr. Franklin, and Count de Vergennes, 
and Marquis de Castries, arranged the plan of 
the campaign for 1781, which eventuated in 
the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and finally 
in a termination of the war. Within six 
months from the day Colonel Laurens left 
America, he returned to it, and brought with 
him the concerted plan of combined opera- 
tions. Ardent to rejoin the army, he was 
indulged with making a verbal report of his 
negotiations to Congress ; and in three days set 
out to resume his place as one of the aids 
of Washington. The American and French 
army about this time commenced the siege 
of York Town. In the course of it. Colonel 
Laurens, as second in command, with his 
fellow-aid, Colonel Hamilton, assisted in 
storming and taking an advanced British re- 
doubt, which expedited the surrender of Lord 
Cornwallis. The articles of capitulation were 



238 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

arranged by Colonel Laurens on behalf of the 
Americans. 

" Charleston and a part of South Carolina 
still remained in the power of the British. 
Colonel Laurens thought nothing done while 
any thing remained undone. He therefore, on 
the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, repaired to 
South Carolina, and joined the southern army 
commanded by General Greene. In the course 
of the summer of 1782, he caught a common 
fever, and was sick in bed when an expedition 
was undertaken against a party of the British, 
which had gone to Combakee to carry off rice. 
Colonel Laurens rose from his sick bed and 
joined his countrymen. While leading an 
advanced party, he received a shot, which, on 
the 27th of August, 1782, at the close of the 
war, put an end to his valuable life, in the 
27th year of his age. His many virtues have 
been ever since the subject of eulogy, and his 
early fall, of national lamentation. The 
fourth of July seldom passes without a tribute 
to his memory." 



THOMAS MIFFLIN, 

Major-General in the American Army. 

" Thomas Mifflin, a major-general in the 
American army during the revolutionary war, 
and governor of Pennsylvania, was born in 
the year 1744', of parents who were Quakers. 
His education was intrusted to the care of the 
Rev. Dr. Smith, with whom he was connected 
in habits of cordial intimacy and friendship 
for more than forty years. Active and zea- 
lous, he engaged early in opposition to the 
measures of the British parliament. He was a 
member of the first Congress, in 1774. He 
took arms, and was among the first officers 
commissioned on the organization of the con- 
tinental army, being appointed quartermaster- 
general in August, 1775. For this offence he 
was read out of the society of Quakers. In 
1777, he was very useful in animating the 
militia, and enkindling the spirit which seemed 
to have been damped. His sanguine disposi- 
tion, and his activity, rendered him insensible 
to the value of that coolness and caution 
which were essential to the preservation of 

239 



240 HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. /.^^fr-^Ji 

such an army as was then under the command 
of General Washington. In 1787, he was a 
member of the convention which framed the 
constitution of the United States, and his name 
is affixed to that instrument. In October, 
1788, he succeeded Franklin as president of 
the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania, 
in which station he continued till October, 
1790. In September, a constitution for this 
state was formed by a convention, in which he 
presided, and he was chosen the first governor. 
In 1794, during the insurrection in Penn- 
sylvania, he employed, to the advantage of his 
country, the extraordinary powers of elocution 
with which he was endowed. The imper- 
fection of the militia laws was compensated 
by his eloquence. He made a circuit through 
the lower counties, and, at different places, 
publicly addressed the militia on the crisis in 
the affairs of their country, and through his 
animating exhortations the state furnished the 
quota required. He was succeeded in the 
office of governor by Mr. M'Kean, at the 
close of the year 1799, and he died at Lancas- 
ter, January 20, 1800, in the fifty-seventh 
year of his age." 

THE END. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




